James Clark McReynolds

“ The petitioner insists that the word 'receive' is free from ambiguity and admits of no interpretation; the statute furnishes the sole measure as to when dividends are to be reported.
The Revenue Act directs that the amount of all such (specified) items shall be included in the gross income for the taxable year in which received by the taxpayer. The word 'received,' as applied to dividends, is not entirely clear, since there are different times at which it reasonably may be claimed the taxpayer receives them. ”

“ To meet this situation, the Commissioner promulgated the regulation that dividends are taxable when unqualifiedly made subject to the stockholder's demand. This provision has been included in all Treasury Regulations since 1918, and has been approved and accepted by Congress through subsequent re-enactments of the statute. When a dividend unqualifiedly becomes subject to a taxpayer's demand is essentially a question of fact. ”

“ The Commissioner, with the approval of the Secretary, is authorized to prescribe all needful rules and regulations for the enforcement of this Act.'
Sections 41, 42, and 62, Revenue Act of 1928, c. 852, 45 Stat. 791 (26 USCA §§ 2041, 2042, 2062) , are substantially like corresponding ones quoted from the 1924 act. Similar provisions appear in the Revenue Act of 1918 and all subsequent ones. ”