Record
Court opinion
1927-05-16
CourtListener (Free Law Project), reprinting the opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States
United States v. Sullivan, 274 U.S. 259 (1927)
The Supreme Court holds, 16 May 1927, in an opinion by Justice Holmes, that gains from an unlawful liquor business are taxable income and that the Fifth Amendment did not excuse the defendant from filing a return at all.
- Date
- 1927-05-16
- Kind
- court-opinion
- Source
- CourtListener (Free Law Project), reprinting the opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-11
- Docket
- 274 U.S. 259 (1927), No. 851
- Rights
- Opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States. Judicial opinions of the Court are not subject to copyright (17 U.S.C. § 105; Wheaton v. Peters). The text read here is CourtListener's scan-derived copy of the reported opinion.
Decided May 16, 1927, argued April 27, 1927; No. 851. The Court held that gains from an unlawful business, there liquor traffic in violation of the National Prohibition Act, are taxable income, and that the Fifth Amendment did not excuse the defendant from filing an income-tax return at all. It reversed the Circuit Court of Appeals, which had set aside a conviction for willful failure to file. Justice Holmes wrote the opinion. The brief for the United States was filed by Assistant Attorney General Willebrandt with the Solicitor General and others. The defendant is named only as Sullivan in the caption.
The Court wrote: “We see no reason to doubt the interpretation of the Act, or any reason why the fact that a business is unlawful should exempt it from paying the taxes that if lawful it would have to pay.” The opinion is the usual authority for taxing illegal income. Quotations follow CourtListener’s scan-derived text.
