United States v. Spokane Rodeo, Inc., a Corporation

This case deals with a situation in which the government collected and now has in its possession the sum of $2,291.88, to which it is not legally entitled, but unfortunately, owing to the circumstances of the case, a legal recovery by the rightful owners is almost impossible. The trial court made a praiseworthy effort to effect a distribution but we do not think its judgment can be sustained as a matter of law.

The facts are not in dispute. It is established that the Spokane Rodeo is a non-profit organization. It uses the funds received from its activities to pay expenses of the rodeo for a given year and to promote future rodeos, and donates funds realized over and above the said expenses to the Grotto Foundation for Spastic and Handicapped Children.

It is asserted by appellee that prior to the sale of the tickets for its 1955 rodeo, representatives of the Internal Revenue Service demanded that it collect a tax on each ticket sold. As a- consequence, each ticket showed separately a federal tax of 13 cents for adults and 6 cents for children. The listed tax was collected along with the purchase price of the ticket. It is these tax collections which make up the said sum of…