Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Sunnen

Decided April 5, 1948. Frank Murphy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 227 · 333 U.S. 591 (1948) · Cited 2,464 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 9–0.

“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.

• Helvering v. Horst · 311 U.S. 112 (1940)
• Helvering v. Clifford · 309 U.S. 331 (1940)
• Harrison v. Schaffner · 312 U.S. 579 (1941)
• Cromwell v. County of Sac · 94 U.S. 351 (1877)
• Lucas v. Earl · 281 U.S. 111 (1930)
• Commissioner v. Tower · 327 U.S. 280 (1946)
• Blair v. Commissioner · 300 U.S. 5 (1937)
• Dobson v. Commissioner · 320 U.S. 489 (1944)
• Helvering v. Eubank · 311 U.S. 122 (1941)
• Burnet v. Leininger · 285 U.S. 136 (1932)
• Commissioner v. Scottish American Investment Co. · 323 U.S. 119 (1945)
• Corliss v. Bowers · 281 U.S. 376 (1930)
• Mercoid Corp. v. Mid-Continent Investment Co. · 320 U.S. 661 (1944)
• Tait v. Western Maryland Railway Co. · 289 U.S. 620 (1933)
• Russell v. Place · 94 U.S. 606 (1877)
• Lusthaus v. Commissioner · 327 U.S. 293 (1946)
• United States v. Stone & Downer Co. · 274 U.S. 225 (1927)
• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Duel · 324 U.S. 154 (1945)

Cited by

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

• Montana v. United States · 440 U.S. 147 (1979)
• Herrera v. Wyoming · 587 U.S. 329 (2019)
• United States v. Stauffer Chemical Co. · 464 U.S. 165 (1984)
• Federated Department Stores, Inc. v. Moitie · 452 U.S. 394 (1981)
• United States v. International Building Co. · 345 U.S. 502 (1953)
• United States v. Byrum · 408 U.S. 125 (1972)
• Sea-Land Services, Inc. v. Gaudet · 414 U.S. 573 (1974)
• Commissioner v. Banks · 543 U.S. 426 (2005)
• Commissioner v. First Security Bank of Utah, N. A. · 405 U.S. 394 (1972)
• Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore · 439 U.S. 322 (1979)
• New Hampshire v. Maine · 532 U.S. 742 (2001)
• Kremer v. Chemical Construction Corp. · 456 U.S. 461 (1982)
• United States v. Munsingwear, Inc. · 340 U.S. 36 (1950)
• City of Houston v. Hill · 482 U.S. 451 (1987)
• United States v. Utah Construction & Mining Co. · 384 U.S. 394 (1966)
• Yates v. United States · 354 U.S. 298 (1957)
• Rivet v. Regions Bank of Louisiana · 522 U.S. 470 (1998)
• Frank Lyon Co. v. United States · 435 U.S. 561 (1978)
• Standefer v. United States · 447 U.S. 10 (1980)
• Nevada v. United States · 463 U.S. 110 (1983)
• Commissioner v. Brown · 380 U.S. 563 (1965)
• National Carbide Corp. v. Commissioner · 336 U.S. 422 (1949)
• United States v. Tohono O’odham Nation · 563 U.S. 307 (2011)
• United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians · 448 U.S. 371 (1980)
• Partmar Corp. v. Paramount Pictures Theatres Corp. · 347 U.S. 89 (1954)
• Moore v. United States · 602 U.S. 572 (2024)
• Dewberry Group, Inc. v. Dewberry Engineers Inc. · 604 U.S. 321 (2025)

Official text

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

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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).