Old Colony Trust Co. v. Commissioner, 279 U.S. 716 (1929)
Old Colony Trust Co. v.
Does an employer's payment of an employee's personal federal income tax, made in consideration of the employee's services, constitute taxable income to the employee?
Gross income includes all accessions to wealth, clearly realized, over which the taxpayer has complete dominion, regardless of form, unless specifically excluded by statute. The discharge of a taxpayer's legal obligation by a third party is equivalent to the receipt of income by the taxpayer. Payments made by an employer to satisfy an employee's personal liabilities, when made as compensation for services, are taxable income to the employee and not non-taxable gifts.
Yes. The employer's payment of the employee's personal federal income tax is additional taxable income to the employee in the year of payment.
Old Colony Trust entrenches the doctrine that third-party payment of a legal obligation produces taxable income, a principle now reflected in IRC § 61 and repeatedly invoked in compensation and discharge-of-indebtedness contexts. It clarifies that substance controls over form: non-cash economic benefits, including employer-paid expenses and gross-ups, are taxable unless a specific Code exclusion applies. For students, the case is a gateway to understanding modern tax issues such as fringe benefits, employer indemnities, and how "accession to wealth" guides the inclusion analysis even when no money changes hands.