Helvering v. Lerner Stores Corp., 314 U.S. 463 (1941). · Go Syfert
Helvering v. Lerner Stores Corp., 314 U.S. 463 (1941). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
116 citation events (8 in the last 25 years) across 23 distinct courts.
Strongest positive: Sakol v. Commissioner (tax, 1977-03-23)
Treatment trajectory · 1942 → 2026 · click a year to view as-of
1942 1984 2026
Top citers, strongest first. 8 distinct citers. How cited ↗
cited Cited as authority (rule) Sakol v. Commissioner
Tax Ct. · 1977 · confidence medium
Helvering v. Lerner Stores Co., 314 U.S. 463, 468 (1941).
examined Cited "see" FM Properties Operating Co. v. City of Austin (4×)
Tex. · 2000 · signal: see · confidence high
See Helvering v. Lerner Stores Corp., 314 U.S. 463, 468 , 62 S.Ct. 341 , 86 L.Ed. 482 (1941) (holding that a statute allowing taxpayers to choose between alternative tax bases was not a delegation); see also Thomas Cusack Co. v. City of Chicago, 242 U.S. 526, 531 , 37 S.Ct. 190 , 61 L.Ed. 472 (1917) (declaring that a city ordinance allowing landowners to lift a zoning prohibition by majority consent "is not a delegation of legislative power, but is ... a familiar provision affecting the enforcement of laws and ordinances").
examined Cited "see" DuPont Glore Forgan Inc. v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co. (3×)
S.D.N.Y. · 1977 · signal: see · confidence high
See generally Helvering v. Lerner Stores Corp., 314 U.S. 463, 468 , 62 S.Ct. 341 , 86 L.Ed. 343 (1941). 113 .
examined Cited "see" Frontiero v. Laird (6×)
M.D. Ala. · 1972 · signal: see · confidence high
See Helvering v. Lerner Stores Corp., 314 U.S. 463 , 62 S.Ct. 341 , 86 L.Ed. 343 (1941).
discussed Cited "see" Shapiro v. Thompson (2×)
SCOTUS · 1969 · signal: see · confidence high
See Helvering v. Lerner Stores Corp., 314 U. S. 463, 468 (1941); Steward Machine Co. v. Davis, 301 U. S. 548, 584 (1937); LaBelle Iron Works v. United States, 256 U. S. 377, 392 (1921). [1] Of the District of Columbia appellees, all sought AFDC assistance except appellee Barley, who asked for Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled.
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Ivelia v. Dept. of Rev. (2×)
Or. T.C. · 2018 · signal: compare · confidence low
Compare Haggar, 308 US at 395 with Helvering v. Lerner Stores Corp., 314 US 463 , 62 S Ct 341 , 86 L Ed 482 (1941) (holding that taxpayer could not amend return to adjust value of capital stock where taxpayer filed amended return after due date, including extensions); see also Scaife Co. v. Comm’r, 314 US 459, 461 , 62 S Ct 338 , 86 L Ed 339 (1941) (holding taxpayer could not amend return to adjust value of capital stock where taxpayer failed to request an extension or amend return before the original deadline for filing).
cited Cited "see, e.g." Intersport Fashions West, Inc. v. United States
Fed. Cl. · 2012 · signal: see also · confidence low
Scaife, 314 U.S. at 460-62 , 62 S.Ct. 338 ; see also Lerner, 314 U.S. at 466 , 62 S.Ct. 341 (observing that “[t]he hardship resulting from the misplaced decimal point is plain”).
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena (2×)
SCOTUS · 1995 · signal: see also · confidence medium
A Through the 1940’s, this Court had routinely taken the view in non-raee-related cases that, “fujnlike the Fourteenth Amendment, the Fifth contains no equal protection clause and it provides no guaranty against discriminatory legislation by Congress.” Detroit Bank v. United States, 317 U. S. 329, 337 (1943); see also, e.g., Helvering v. Lerner Stores Corp., 314 U. S. 463, 468 (1941); LaBelle Iron Works v. United States, 256 U. S. 377, 392 (1921) (“Reference is made to cases decided under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment . . . ; but clearly they are not in point.
Retrieving the full opinion text from the archive…
Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue
v.
Lerner Stores Corp. (Md.)
248.
Supreme Court of the United States.
Dec 22, 1941.
314 U.S. 463
1941 U.S. LEXIS 1
Mr. Richard H. Demuth, with whom Assistant Solicitor General Fahy, Assistant Attorney General Clark, and Messrs. J. Louis Monarch and William L. Cary were on the brief, for petitioner., Mr. Andrew B. Trudgian for respondent.
Douglas.
Cited by 50 opinions  |  Published
[*465] Me. Justice Douglas

delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is a companion case to Scaife Co. v. Commissioner, ante, p. 459. The tax in dispute is respondent’s excess profits tax for the fiscal year 1937. Respondent filed a timely capital stock tax return for' the first year, ended June 30, 1936, in which the declared value of its capital stock was stated to be $25,000. This return was filed September 27,1936, an extension of time until September 29, 1936 having been obtained. The figure of $25,000 was[*466] erroneous due to a mistake made by an employee of respondent. When the error was discovered, an amended return was tendered in which the declared value of the capital stock was given as $2,500,000. This was on January 27, 1937, more than sixty days after the statutory due date. The amount of the tax, penalty and interest on the higher amount was tendered. The amended return was not accepted and the amount of the remittance was refunded. Petitioner, in determining respondent’s net income subject to the excess profits tax for the fiscal year ended January 31, 1937, used the declared value of $25,000 appearing in the original return. The order of the Board of Tax Appeals sustaining the Commissioner was reversed by the Circuit Court of Appeals. 118 E. 2d 455.

On the issue of timeliness of the amended return the decision in the Scaife case is determinative. The case for disallowance of the amendment is even stronger here, for the amended return was filed beyond the period for which any extension could have been granted by the Commissioner. The hardship resulting from the misplaced decimal point is plain. But Congress, not the courts, is the source of relief.

Respondent in its brief tenders another issue. It contends here, as it did before the Board and the Circuit Court of Appeals, that §§ 105 and 106 of the Revenue Act of 1935 constitute an unlawful delegation of legislative authority, contrary to Art. 1, § 8 of the Constitution; that they violate the Fifth Amendment; and that the capital stock and excess profits taxes, being “based on guesses and wagers,” are beyond the delegated powers of Congress. The Board and the Circuit Court of Appeals ruled adversely to respondent on these constitutional issues. Respondent filed no cross-petition for certiorari. Yet a respondent, without filing a cross-petition, may urge in support of the judgment under review grounds rejected[*467] by the court below. Langnes v. Green, 282 U. S. 531, 538-539; Public Service Commission v. Havemeyer, 296 U. S. 506, 509; McGoldrick v. Compagnie Generale Transatlantique, 309 U. S. 430, 434.

The constitutional issues, however, áre without substance. As we noted in Haggar Co. v. Helvering, 308 U. S. 389, 391-392, 394, the capital stock tax and the excess profits tax are closely interrelated. The declared value of the capital stock is the basis of computation of both taxes. The declared value for the first year is the value declared by the corporation in its first return; the declared value for subsequent years [1] is the original declared value as changed by certain specified capital adjustments. Sec. 105 (f), Revenue Act of 1935, 49 Stat. 1014, 1018. The taxpayer is free to declare any value of the capital stock for the first year which it may choose. While a low declaration of value decreases the amount of the capital stock tax, it increases the risk of a high excess profits tax. On,the other hand, a high declaration of value, while decreasing the tax on excess profits, increases the capital stock tax. By allowing the taxpayer “to fix for itself the amount of the taxable base” for purposes of computation of these taxes, Congress “avoided the necessity of prescribing a formula for arriving at the actual value of capital” — a problem “which had been found productiva of much litigation under earlier taxing acts.” Haggar Co. v. Helvering, supra, p. 394. See 1 Bonbright, Valuation of Property, pp. 577-594. “At the same time it guarded against loss of revenue to the Government through understatements of capital” by providing a formula which would in such circumstances result in an increase in the excess profits tax. Haggar Co. v. Helvering, supra, p. 394.

[*468] There is present no unlawful delegation of power. Congress has prescribed the method by which the taxes are to be computed. The taxpayer here is given a choice as to value. While the decision which it makes has a pronounced effect upon its tax liability, that is not uncommon in the tax field. Congress has fixed the criteria in light of which the choice is to be made. The election which the taxpayer makes cannot affect anyone but itself.

The contention that these provisions of the Act run afoul of the Fifth Amendment is likewise without merit. A claim of unreasonable classification or inequality in the incidence or application of a tax raises no question under the Fifth Amendment, which contains no equal protection clause. LaBelle Iron Works v. United States, 256 U. S. 377; Sunshine Anthracite Coal Co. v. Adkins, 310 U. S. 381, 401. The propriety or wisdom of a tax on profits, computed in reference to a specified criterion of value of capital stock, is not open to challenge in the courts. LaBelle Iron Works v. United States, supra, p. 393. That being true, there is no constitutional reason why Congress may not, because of administrative convenience alone (Carmichael v. Southern Coal & Coke Co., 301 U. S. 495, 511 and cases cited), avoid litigious valuation problems and rely on the self-interest of taxpayers to place a fair valuation on their capital stock. As was stated in Rochester Gas & Electric Corp. v. McGowan, 115 F. 2d 953, 955, “To say that Congress could not choose a scheme implemented by such mild sanctions, as an alternative to actually computing an ‘excess profits tax’ with all the uncertainty and litigation which that had involved, would be most unreason[*469] ably to circumscribe its powers to establish a convenient and flexible fiscal system.”

Nor do we have here any lack of that territorial uniformity which is required by Art. I, § 8 of the Constitution. LaBelle Iron Works v. United States, supra, p. 392.

Reversed.

1

There is no limitation of time on the use of the original declared value under the 1935 Act. It should be noted, however, that § 1202 of the Internal Revenue Code (see § 601 (f) of the Revenue Act of 1938, 52 Stat. 447, 566) provides that the “adjusted declared value[*468] shall be determined with respect to three-year periods beginning with the year ending June 30, 1938, and each third year thereafter.” That adjusted declared value enters into the computation of the excess profits tax under §§ 600 and 601 of the Internal Revenue Code.