[43] A tax on the rental value of property so occupied is a direct tax on the land and must be apportioned.—Helvering v. Independent L. Ins. Co., 292 U.S. 371, 378-379 (1934).

[44] 292 U.S. 381.—Expenditures incurred in the prosecution of work under a contract for the purpose of earning profits are not capital investments, the cost of which, if converted, must first be restored from the proceeds before there is a capital gain taxable as income. Accordingly, a dredging contractor, recovering a judgment for breach of warranty of the character of the material to be dredged, must include the amount thereof in the gross income of the year in which it was received, rather than of the years during which the contract was performed, even though it merely represents a return of expenditures made in performing the contract and resulting in a loss. The gain or profit subject to tax under the Sixteenth Amendment is the excess of receipts over allowable deductions during the accounting period, without regard to whether or not such excess represents a profit ascertained on the basis of particular transactions of the taxpayer when they are brought to a conclusion.—Burnet v. Sanford & B. Co., 282 U.S. 353 (1931).

[45] 274 U.S. 259 (1927).

[46] 42 Stat. 227, 250, 268.

[47] 274 at 263.

[48] 327 U.S. 404 (1946).

[49] 343 U.S. 130 (1952).


AMENDMENT 17