Eleanor M. Willhoit and John D. Willhoit v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

John D. Willhoit and Eleanor M. Will-hoit seek a review of the decision of the Tax Court of the United States redetermining deficiencies in their respective income taxes for 1943, 1944 and 1945. Their income for those years was earned exclusively by John D. Willhoit (herein “the petitioner”) while the taxpayers were residing at Long Beach, California, and was community property. Under the laws of that state, the income belonged equally to the spouses, and each of them reported one-half in separate but identical returns. The Tax Court consolidated their petitions for redeter-mination, and their petitions for review were similarly treated in this court.

The commissioner found petitioner realized net gain in five separate business transactions; the petitioner had either not reported any income at all from them, or had returned the gain in a sum less than that determined by the commissioner. The Tax Court held that in two of the five petitioner was not chargeable with a taxable gain; but with slight adjustments in amount of the deficiencies it sustained the commissioner’s decision regarding the other three. The commissioner did not file a cross-petition, and it appears petitioner…