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received by him in 1988 nontaxable in that year or excuses his
failure to file a return and report those proceeds for that year.
Section 61(a) states: “Except as otherwise provided in this
subtitle, gross income means all income from whatever source
derived”. The Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasized the
“sweeping scope” of section 61(a) and its statutory predecessors.
See Commissioner v. Schleier, 515 U.S. ___, 115 S. Ct. 2159, 2163
(1995); Commissioner v. Glenshaw Glass Co., 348 U.S. 426, 429
(1955). In Schleier, the Supreme Court stated: “We have also
emphasized the corollary to section 61(a)’s broad construction,
namely the <default rule of statutory interpretation that
exclusions from income must be narrowly construed.’”
Commissioner v. Schleier, 515 U.S. at ___ (quoting United States
v. Burke, 504 U.S. 229, 248 (1992) (Souter, J., concurring in
judgment)). Petitioner has not, in this case, identified any
specific ground that entitles him to exclude the funds he
received from taxable income. Petitioner’s position is based
primarily on the ongoing litigation and secondarily on the
misplaced argument that the payments he received in 1988 were
somehow attributable to an earlier year.
Whether they were paid as a result of the 1984 ruling of the
Superior Court or the 1988 settlement agreement, the proceeds
received by petitioner were undoubtedly received by him in 1988
pursuant to a “claim of right” against Wright. Where, as here, a
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