Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. First Security Bank of Utah, N. a., et al.

Decided March 21, 1972. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 70-305 · 405 U.S. 394 (1972) · Cited 129 times

Holding

Since the banks did not receive and were prohibited by law from receiving sales commissions, no part of the reinsurance premium income could be attributed to them, and petitioner's exercise of the 482 authority was not warranted.

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 6–3.

“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.

• Lucas v. Earl · 281 U.S. 111 (1930)
• Helvering v. Horst · 311 U.S. 112 (1940)
• James v. United States · 366 U.S. 213 (1961)
• Commissioner v. Wilcox · 327 U.S. 404 (1946)
• Rutkin v. United States · 343 U.S. 130 (1952)
• Harrison v. Schaffner · 312 U.S. 579 (1941)
• Commissioner v. Sunnen · 333 U.S. 591 (1948)
• Corliss v. Bowers · 281 U.S. 376 (1930)
• Blair v. Commissioner · 300 U.S. 5 (1937)
• Commissioner v. Lester · 366 U.S. 299 (1961)
• Helvering v. Clifford · 309 U.S. 331 (1940)
• Old Colony Trust Co. v. Commissioner · 279 U.S. 716 (1929)
• Knetsch v. United States · 364 U.S. 361 (1960)
• United States v. Sullivan · 274 U.S. 259 (1927)
• Douglas v. Willcuts · 296 U.S. 1 (1935)
• Helvering v. Eubank · 311 U.S. 122 (1941)
• United States v. Mitchell · 403 U.S. 190 (1971)
• Burnet v. Leininger · 285 U.S. 136 (1932)
• Burnet v. Wells · 289 U.S. 670 (1933)
• Tank Truck Rentals, Inc. v. Commissioner · 356 U.S. 30 (1958)
• Hoeper v. Tax Comm'n of Wis. · 284 U.S. 206 (1931)
• United States v. Joliet & Chicago Railroad · 315 U.S. 44 (1942)
• Helvering v. Fitch · 309 U.S. 149 (1940)

Cited by

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

• United States National Bank v. Independent Insurance Agents of America, Inc. · 508 U.S. 439 (1993)
• United States v. Basye · 410 U.S. 441 (1973)
• Commissioner v. Banks · 543 U.S. 426 (2005)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Lewis Franklin Powell Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1972). 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).