Supreme Court of the United States, 1931

Burnet v. Northern Trust Co.

Supreme Court of the United States · Decided March 2, 1931

283 U.S. 782; 51 S. Ct. 342 (United States Reports)

Counsel

Mr. Walter E. Hope, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, with whom Solicitor General Thacher and Messrs. Clarence M. Charest, General Counsel, and Prew Savoy, Special Attorney, Bureau of Internal Revenue, were on the brief, for petitioner., Mr. Edward H. Blanc argued the cause, and Messrs. Theodore Schmidt, John W. Davis, Russell L. Bradford, and Frederic Ullmann filed a brief, for respondent., Messrs. John E. Hughes and Raymond M. White, by special leave of Court, filed briefs as amid curiae., Mr. Seth T. Cole, by special leave of Court, filed a brief on behalf of the Tax Commission of the State of New York et al. as amid curiae.

Cases that cite this one

69 later published cases cite this decision. The 25 that cite it most often are listed here.

Commissioner v. Estate of Church (Supreme Court of the United States 1949)
Smith v. United States (Court of Claims 1956)
Industrial Trust Co. v. Commissioner of Internal Rev. (1st Cir. 1947)
In re the Estate of Anderson (New York Surrogate's Court 1939)
Union Planters National Bank, of the Estate of Forrest C. Ladd v. United States (6th Cir. 1966)
Safe Deposit & Trust Co. of Baltimore v. Tait (District Court, D. Maryland 1934)
Rifkind v. United States (Court of Claims 1984)
Estate of Thomson v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1972)
Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Estate of Eleanor Buchanan Talbott, Deceased, Bryan Carver (4th Cir. 1969)
Henry B. Joy, Jr. And William C. McMillan as Executors Under the Will of Helen N. Joy, Deceased v. United States (6th Cir. 1968)
In re Estate of Fanny Sicher Cohn, Deceased. Lillian Friedmann and Warren S. Davidson v. United States (2d Cir. 1967)
United States v. O'MALLEY (Supreme Court of the United States 1966)
Estate of Cohn v. United States (District Court, S.D. New York 1966)
Joseph F. Savage, Lesley Andrew, and Daniel Creem Savage, as Executors of the Last Will and Testament of Edna Savage Becker, Deceased v. United States (2d Cir. 1964)
Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Estate of Lena R. Arents, United States Trust Company of New York and Georgearents, Executors (2d Cir. 1962)
Studebaker v. United States (District Court, N.D. Indiana 1962)
Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Estate of Ellis Branson Ridgway, Deceased, Craig Sawyer Ridgway and Ellis Branson Ridgway, Jr., Executors (3d Cir. 1961)
Studebaker v. United States (District Court, N.D. Indiana 1961)
Arents v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1960)
Estate of Daniel McNichol Deceased, Ellen McNichol Evangelista and Joseph G. McNichol Executors v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (3d Cir. 1959)
The Estate of Debe W. Hubbard, the Merchants National Bank of Mobile v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (5th Cir. 1957)
Hubbard v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1956)
Resch v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1953)
First Trust Co. of St. Paul v. Kelm (D. Minn. 1952)
Morristown Trust Co. v. Manning (District Court, D. New Jersey 1951)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

Per Curiam:

The question in this case is that of the construction of § 402 (c) of the Revenue Act of 1921, c. 13(5, 42 Stat. 227, 278, a provision similar to that of § 402 (c) of the Revenue Act of 1918, c. 18, 40 Stat. 1057, 1097, which has already been construed by this Court, and, in this view, there being no question of the constitutional authority of the Congress to impose prospectively a tax with respect to transfers or trusts of the sort here involved, the judgment of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is affirmed upon the authority of May v. Heiner, 281 U. S. 238.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.