Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Clark et Ux.

Decided March 22, 1989. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-1168 · 489 U.S. 726 (1989) · Cited 168 times

Holding

Section 356(a)'s language and history, as well as a commonsense understanding of the economic substance of the transaction at issue, establish that NL's boot payment to the taxpayer is subject to capital gains rather than ordinary income treatment.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 8–1.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• United States v. Davis · 397 U.S. 301 (1970)
• Commissioner v. Estate of Bedford · 325 U.S. 283 (1945)
• Commissioner v. Court Holding Co. · 324 U.S. 331 (1945)
• A. H. Phillips, Inc. v. Walling · 324 U.S. 490 (1945)
• Minnesota Tea Co. v. Helvering · 302 U.S. 609 (1938)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Maracich v. Spears · 570 U.S. 48 (2013)
• City of Edmonds v. Oxford House, Inc. · 514 U.S. 725 (1995)
• John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance v. Harris Trust & Savings Bank · 510 U.S. 86 (1993)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).