Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Estate of Church
335 U.S. 632 · Decided January 17, 1949 · Supreme Court of the United States
At a glance
Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Estate of Church was decided on January 17, 1949 by a vote of 6–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Hugo L. Black wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Federal taxation (Internal Revenue Code)” in the Federal Taxation area. SCDB codes this decision as formally altering one or more of the Court's own precedents.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 335 U.S. 632 · 69 S. Ct. 322 · 93 L. Ed. 2d 288 · 1949 U.S. LEXIS 2950
- Docket number
- 5
- Decided
- January 17, 1949
- Argued
- October 24, 1947
- Reargued
- October 12, 1948
- Court era
- Vinson Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority opinion
- Hugo L. Black
- Opinion assigned by
- Felix Frankfurter
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Federal taxation (Internal Revenue Code)
- Issue area
- Federal Taxation
- Legal provision
- Internal Revenue Code
- Type of law
- Federal statute
- Altered precedent
- Yes — formally altered the Court's precedent
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Liberal what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Hugo L. Black | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Stanley F. Reed | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Felix Frankfurter | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice William O. Douglas | Majority | |
| Justice Frank Murphy | Majority | |
| Justice Robert H. Jackson | Special concurrence | |
| Justice Wiley B. Rutledge | Majority | |
| Justice Harold H. Burton | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson | Majority |
Full case caption
Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Estate of Church
SCDB identifiers: case 1948-024, docket 1948-024-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Federal taxation (Internal Revenue Code)”
- Estate of Spiegel v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
- Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Jacobson
- Wisconsin Electric Power Co. v. United States
- Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Phipps
- National Carbide Corp. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
- Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Wodehouse
Cases on the same legal provision: Internal Revenue Code
- Henslee v. Union Planters National Bank & Trust Co.
- United States v. Benedict
- United States v. Sanchez
- United States v. Security Trust & Savings Bank
- Harris v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
- Lilly v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Same Term, same area (Federal Taxation)
- Henslee v. Union Planters National Bank & Trust Co.
- Estate of Spiegel v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
- Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Jacobson
- Goggin v. Division of Labor Law Enforcement of California
- Wisconsin Electric Power Co. v. United States
- Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Phipps
Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error