Byram v. United States

John Byram (plaintiff), an unlicensed, non-advertising seller, sold 22 pieces of real estate from 1971 to 1973, with buyer-initiated purchases of seven parcels in 1973 yielding $2.5 million in profit; he had held those seven parcels long enough to qualify for long-term capital gains treatment and reported the profit as such on his 1973 return. The government (defendant) assessed a deficiency, treating the profit as ordinary income instead, and after paying it, Byram sued for a refund; the district court applied a seven-factor test and found the profit was capital gain, and the government appealed.