Cite as: 507 U. S. 546 (1993)
Souter, J., dissenting
Bull. 63 (1927), and repudiates the equally settled interpretation of the corresponding section of the tax code itself. We are, after all, dealing with a statute reenacted without substantial change not less than six times since 1919, see Revenue Act of 1918, § 234(a)(7), 40 Stat. 1078 (1919); Revenue Act of 1932, § 23(k), 47 Stat. 181; Revenue Act of 1934, § 23(l), 48 Stat. 689; Revenue Act of 1936, § 23(l), 49 Stat. 1660; Revenue Act of 1938, § 23(l), 52 Stat. 462; Internal Revenue Code of 1939, § 23(l), 53 Stat. 14; Internal Revenue Code of 1954, § 167(a), 68A Stat. 51, and we may presume that Congress has accepted the understanding set out in the cognate intangible asset regulation and in the judicial decisions that have clarified that regulation's terms.3 Lorillard v. Pons, 434 U. S. 575, 580 (1978); United States v. Correll, 389 U. S. 299, 305-306 (1967); Helvering v. Winmill, 305 U. S. 79, 83 (1938). The consequences, therefore, of acceding to Ledger's argument are at once a rejection of statutory interpretation settled by Congress itself through reenactment of the tax code and a further invasion of the political domain to rewrite a Treasury regulation.4 See Correll, supra, at 307 (this Court
sioner's amended regulation, that a brewery could not deduct for the "exhaustion" or "obsolescence" of goodwill as a result of Prohibition. See Clarke v. Haberle Crystal Springs Brewing Co., 280 U. S. 384 (1930); Renziehausen v. Lucas, 280 U. S. 387 (1930); see also V. Loewers Gambrinus Brewery Co. v. Anderson, 282 U. S. 638 (1931) (distinguishing Haberle Springs and allowing a brewery to claim a depreciation deduction for buildings made obsolete by Prohibition).
3 Legislative materials indicate that Congress is, in fact, aware of the accepted definition of "goodwill." See, e. g., H. R. Conf. Rep. No. 100-495, p. 937 (1987) ("Goodwill has been defined as the expectancy of continued patronage, for whatever reason, or as the probability that old customers will resort to the old place").
4 The majority discounts these consequences by claiming that the utility of the accepted definition of "goodwill" is limited because "[t]he value of every intangible asset is related, to a greater or lesser degree, to the expectation that customers will continue their patronage." Ante, at 556. But the regulation does not provide that every intangible asset related to goodwill is nondepreciable; rather, it simply states that goodwill itself is
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