Facts
Taxpayers borrowed $1,851,500 on a non-recourse basis to build an apartment complex.
When their basis in the property was $1,455,740 (after their invested capital of $44,212 and deductions taken in the amount of $439,972), they sold it for no consideration other than the assumption of the non-recourse liability.
The fair market value of the property at the time of sale was $1,400,000, so they claimed a loss of $55,740. The Tax Commissioner insisted instead that they actually realized a gain of $400,000; the difference between the principal amount of the debt and their basis.
Read more about this topic: Commissioner V. Tufts
Famous quotes containing the word facts:
“The bases for historical knowledge are not empirical facts but written texts, even if these texts masquerade in the guise of wars or revolutions.”
—Paul Deman (1919–1983)
“I’m not afraid of facts, I welcome facts but a congeries of facts is not equivalent to an idea. This is the essential fallacy of the so-called “scientific” mind. People who mistake facts for ideas are incomplete thinkers; they are gossips.”
—Cynthia Ozick (b. 1928)
“Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, sir!”
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)