Stephen S. Wang, Jr. - Page 19

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               Section 1341 was enacted in 1954 to address the type of                
          situation that existed in United States v. Lewis, 340 U.S. 590              
          (1951).  In that case, the taxpayer repaid, in a later year, part           
          of a bonus received erroneously in a prior year that was closed             
          for tax purposes.  Because of those circumstances, the taxpayer             
          lost the benefits of being able to calculate the reduction of               
          income in the year of receipt of the bonus.  Those benefits                 
          included interest from a refund of the tax paid earlier and                 
          differing tax rates between the years of receipt and repayment.             
          Although section 1341 does not address the question of interest,            
          it does address other possible benefits that might have been                
          available from the deduction or computation of the tax in the               
          earlier year.                                                               
               Respondent contends that section 1341 generally does not               
          apply to circumstances where the income is obtained through                 
          illegal means.  The cases that have addressed this issue,                   
          however, generally involve embezzlement or a similar circumstance           
          where the taxpayer was entrusted with another's cash or assets.7            
          We could find only one section 1341 illegal income case that did            
          not involve embezzlement or similar circumstances.  On the basis            


               7 One case involved the misappropriation of a lawyer’s                 
          clients’ trust funds, which in all material respects is the same            
          as embezzlement, especially with respect to the question of                 
          whether a taxpayer has a claim of right (appearance of an                   
          unrestricted right) with respect to the item in question.  See              
          O'Hagan v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1995-409.                               




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