Taxes: Airy Argument

Hit for $23,617 in back federal taxes, Contractor John J. Sexton countered with a remarkable claim for depreciating the 88.8-acre garbage dump that he owns in Chicago. Had he bought it for normal use, he said, the land would have cost $44,000. But the seller, realizing what the plot was to be used for, charged and got $150,000. The purchase included two 60-ft. garbage pits. When the holes are filled, Sexton told the Internal Revenue Service, the land will again be worth only $44,000. Sexton thus claimed a tax deduction for “wasting assets.”

What assets? Easy, replied Sexton. The holes contained 2,528,787 cu. yds. of air. It was the air that was being used up and depreciated.

The U.S. Tax Court could find no holes in Sexton’s airy argument. “We perceive no reason why such rights should not be the subject of depreciation,” ruled the court.