Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Southwest Exploration Co.

Decided February 27, 1956. Tom C. Clark delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 286 · 350 U.S. 308 (1956) · Cited 279 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–1.

“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.

• Palmer v. Bender · 287 U.S. 551 (1932)
• Burton-Sutton Oil Co. v. Commissioner · 328 U.S. 25 (1946)
• Anderson v. Helvering · 310 U.S. 404 (1940)
• Thomas v. Perkins · 301 U.S. 655 (1937)
• Helvering v. Bankline Oil Co. · 303 U.S. 362 (1938)
• Helvering v. Elbe Oil Land Development Co. · 303 U.S. 372 (1938)
• Kirby Petroleum Co. v. Commissioner · 326 U.S. 599 (1946)
• Helvering v. O'DONNELL · 303 U.S. 370 (1938)

Cited by

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

• Parsons v. Smith · 359 U.S. 215 (1959)
• Commissioner v. Portland Cement Co. of Utah · 450 U.S. 156 (1981)
• Commissioner v. Brown · 380 U.S. 563 (1965)
• United States v. Skelly Oil Co. · 394 U.S. 678 (1969)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Tom C. Clark’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).