KWTX BROADCASTING COMPANY, INC., PETITIONER,
v.
COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, RESPONDENT

5th Cir. | 1959-12-03
No. 17827
272 F.2d 406 Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1959) Caution
Cited by 26 cases

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Holding

The Tax Court's finding that the initial outlay for a television station license cannot be depreciated over the license life is affirmed.


Facts & Procedural History

Petitioner sought to depreciate the cost of a three-year television station license over its life. The Tax Court denied this, finding the asset's usef…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

This petition to review the decision of the Tax Court presents the question whether that court’s finding and conclusion, that the initial outlay made by petitioner in obtaining its three year license to operate a television station cannot be depreciated over the life of the license, under Sec. 167, I.R.C. of 1954, 26 U.S. C.A. § 167, and T.R. Sec. 1.167(a)-3, is clearly erroneous.

The regulation upon which petitioner bases its claim to the right to take depreciation over the life of the license (plus the life of the temporary license) provides :

“If an intangible asset is known from, experience or other factors to be of use in the business * * * for only a limited period, the length of which can be estimated with reasonable accuracy, such an asset may be the subject of a depreciation allowance. * * * ” (Emphasis added.)

We affirm the findings of fact and conclusions of the Tax Court, that, on the basis of the history of the regulation of the television industry by the Federal Communications Commission,1 it is “not known from experience or other factors” that this intangible asset is of use in the business for only a limited period.

Therefore, we affirm the decision of the Tax Court on its findings of fact and opinion, 31 T.C. 952, and on this court’s earlier decision in Nachman v. Commissioner, 5 Cir., 191 F. 2d 934.

Decision affirmed.

. The Commission has never refused to grant a renewal of a license once it has been granted.


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