Abernethy v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

PER CURIAM. This is a petition to review a decision of the Tax Court of the United States, which sustained a proposed deficiency in income taxes for 1949 sought to be imposed upon $2,400 paid by Calvary Baptist Church to its retired pastor “as a token of its gratitude and appreciation,” as it was phrased in the first resolution on the subject, adopted in 1941, or “in appreciation of his long and faithful services”, as it was phrased in the later resolution of 1944. The order of the Tax Court is reversed upon authority of Bogardus v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 1 Schall v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 2 Mutch v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 3 and Hershman v. Kavanagh. 4 Reversed. Footnotes [1] 1937, 302 U.S. 34, 58 S.Ct. 61, 82 L.Ed. 32. [2] 5 Cir., 1949, 174 F.2d 893. [3] 3 Cir., 1954, 209 F.2d 390. [4] D.C.E.D.Mich., 120 F.Supp. 956, June 29, 1953, affirmed per curiam, 6 Cir., 1954, 210 F.2d 654.