Harris v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

340 U.S. 106 · Decided November 27, 1950 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Harris v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue was decided on November 27, 1950 by a vote of 5–4. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice William O. Douglas wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Federal taxation of gifts and business expenses” in the Federal Taxation area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Harris v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

SCDB identifiers: case 1950-010, docket 1950-010-01.

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Other cases on “Federal taxation of gifts and business expenses”

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• Lykes v. United States
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Cases on the same legal provision: Internal Revenue Code

• United States v. Sanchez
  340 U.S. 42Decided November 13, 19509–0Tom C. Clark
• United States v. Security Trust & Savings Bank
  340 U.S. 47Decided November 13, 19509–0Sherman Minton
• United States v. Lewis
  340 U.S. 590Decided March 26, 19518–1Hugo L. Black
• Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Korell
  339 U.S. 619Decided June 5, 19506–1Fred M. Vinson
• Brown Shoe Co., Inc. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
  339 U.S. 583Decided May 15, 19508–1Tom C. Clark
• Manning v. Seeley Tube & Box Co.
  338 U.S. 561Decided February 6, 19508–0Fred M. Vinson

Same Term, same area (Federal Taxation)

• United States v. Security Trust & Savings Bank
  340 U.S. 47Decided November 13, 19509–0Sherman Minton
• United States v. Lewis
  340 U.S. 590Decided March 26, 19518–1Hugo L. Black
• Zittman v. McGrath
  341 U.S. 446Decided May 28, 19516–2Robert H. Jackson
• Zittman v. McGrath
  341 U.S. 471Decided May 28, 19518–0Robert H. Jackson

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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