Adolph K. Krause and Janet S. Krause v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

497 F.2d 1109, 34 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5044, 1974 U.S. App. LEXIS 8400
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedMay 30, 1974
Docket73-1866
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 497 F.2d 1109 (Adolph K. Krause and Janet S. Krause v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adolph K. Krause and Janet S. Krause v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 497 F.2d 1109, 34 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5044, 1974 U.S. App. LEXIS 8400 (6th Cir. 1974).

Opinion

PHILLIPS, Chief Judge.

Mr. and Mrs. Adolph K. Krause (taxpayers) appeal from a decision of the United States Tax Court, per Judge Samuel B. Sterrett, upholding the Commissioner’s determination of deficiencies in taxpayers’ federal income tax for the taxable years 1964, 1965 and 1966. We affirm.

For a comprehensive statement of the facts, reference is made to the opinion of Judge Sterrett, 57 T.C. 890 (1972).

In 1959 taxpayers created and capitalized a Michigan limited partnership named A. K. Company. Contemporaneously, Mr. Krause created three trusts naming taxpayers’ children as beneficiaries, and Mrs. Krause created three trusts naming their grandchildren as beneficiaries. The childrens’ trusts were each funded with $100 and 50 shares of Wolverine Shoe & Tanning Corp. (now Wolverine World Wide, Inc.). The grandchildrens’ trusts were each funded with $100 and 25 shares of Wolverine stock. Wolverine is an outgrowth of a partnership begun by the Krause family in 1883, and in all years pertinent hereto Mr. Krause was president and a director of Wolverine.

Simultaneously with the execution of the partnership and trust agreements, Mr. Krause executed a series of documents wherein he agreed to transfer his 60 per cent limited partnership interest in A. K. Company to the six trusts in exchange for $100 and 80 per cent of the income received by the trusts from A. K. Company for a period of 16 years. ■ Fifteen per cent of the limited partnership interest was allocated to each of the three childrens’ trusts and five per cent was allocated to each of the three grandchildrens’ trusts.

The Commissioner, claiming that the six trusts were not bona fide partners in *1111 the A. K. Company within the meaning of § 704(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, 26 U.S.C. § 704(e), asserted deficiencies for the calendar years 1964 through 1966 on the basis that all the income received by the trusts was taxable to taxpayers rather than the trusts.

From the adverse decision of the Tax Court upholding deficiencies for the three years aggregating $97,654.07, taxpayers raise three issues on appeal: 1) Were the six trusts bona fide partners in the A. K. Company within the meaning of § 704(e) of the Code? 2) Were taxpayers liable for taxes on the income produced by 25 shares of Wolverine stock held by each of the six trusts? 3) Did the Tax Court err in computing the deficiencies?

I.

After considering all of the factors in this case, the Tax Court correctly found that taxpayers retained too many incidents of ownership for the trusts to be the real owners of the partnership interest. Reference is made to 57 T.C. at 898 for a convincing listing of these incidents of ownership.

Taxpayers do not contest that they retain numerous incidents of ownership over the trusts. Rather they contend that the Tax Court erred in that (a) the trusts are bona fide partners in A. K. Company within the plain language of § 704(e) of the Code, and (b) the principles established in United States v. Byrum, 408 U.S. 125, 92 S.Ct. 2382, 33 L.Ed.2d 238 (1972), a case decided subsequent to the decision of the Tax Court, preclude taxation of the income received by the trusts to them.

Section 704(e) of the Code provides, in effect, that a person may be recognized as a partner for income tax purposes “if he owns a capital interest in a partnership in which capital is a material income-producing factor.” (Emphasis added.) That section was enacted to prevent taxpayers from using the family partnership as a means of splitting family income and thus circumventing the progressive tax rate structure of the federal income tax. The legislative history of the section shows that Congress wanted the Commissioner and the courts to inquire into the question of whether the donee or the purchaser actually owns the purportedly transferred interest; and, in cases where the transferor retained incidents of ownership, it was the Congressional intent that he be taxable on the partnership’s income. H.Rep.No.586, 82d Cong., 1st Sess., p. 33; S.Rep.No.781, 82d Cong., 1st Sess., pp. 39-40; 2 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News, pp. 1781, 1813-1815 & 1969, 2008-2010. Further, the Commissioner specifically implemented this Congressional purpose in Treas.Reg. § 1.-704-1(e) (1) (iii). This court recognized the Congressional purpose in Ballou v. United States, 370 F.2d 659, 661-662 (1966).

We are, therefore, unpersuaded by taxpayers’ contention that the plain language of § 704(e) supports taxpayers’ claim that the trusts were bona fide partners in A. K. Company.

Further, taxpayers rely on Byrum, supra, a case in which the Supreme Court held that the powers which a settlor of a trust held over certain trust income were not so great as to require inclusion of the trust in his gross estate under § 2036(a) of the Code. In Byrum, the settlor-decedent transferred to an irrevocable trust for the benefit of his children stock in three corporations which he controlled, retaining the right to vote the transferred stock, to veto the transfer by the trustee of any of the stock, and to remove the trustee and appoint another trustee as successor.

We conclude that Byrum is not controlling in the present case. The estate tax statute involved in Byrum, § 2036(a), is different, in terms of language, legislative history and objectives, from the income tax statute involved in the present ease, § 704(e). Section 704(e) recognizes a person as a partner for tax purposes if he owns a capital interest in á partnership in which capi *1112 tal is a material income-producing factor. On the other hand, § 2036(a) requires the inclusion in decedent’s gross estate of the value of any property which he has transferred by inter vivos gift, if he retained the enjoyment of the property for his lifetime or the right to designate who shall enjoy the income therefrom.

In addition to the fact that the present case involves a family partnership with entirely different language, legislative history and objectives than that contained in § 2036(a), taxpayers here retained greater incidents of ownership than did the settlor in Byrum. Taxpayers control the partnership in which the instant trusts purportedly “own” interests. They are the dominant force in the corporation whose stock forms the principal partnership asset. They have contingent rights to trust income and principal under the trust instruments. Through their power to control the trustees they have the power to realize on those contingencies. The Tax Court correctly concluded that taxpayers “retained a present income interest and reserved the right to reacquire the principal interest.” 57 T.C. at 898.

We, therefore hold that the six trusts were not bona fide partners in the A. K. Company within the meaning of § 704(e). Consequently, taxpayers are taxable on the income attributable to the partnership interest.

II.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Jason B. Sage v. Commissioner
154 T.C. No. 12 (U.S. Tax Court, 2020)
Reynolds v. Commissioner
1987 T.C. Memo. 261 (U.S. Tax Court, 1987)
Madorin v. Commissioner
84 T.C. No. 44 (U.S. Tax Court, 1985)
Garcia v. Commissioner
1984 T.C. Memo. 340 (U.S. Tax Court, 1984)
Estate of Levy v. Commissioner
1983 T.C. Memo. 453 (U.S. Tax Court, 1983)
Manuel v. Commissioner
1983 T.C. Memo. 138 (U.S. Tax Court, 1983)
Blitzer v. United States
684 F.2d 874 (Court of Claims, 1982)
Smietanka v. Commissioner
1980 T.C. Memo. 530 (U.S. Tax Court, 1980)
Watkins v. Commissioner
1979 T.C. Memo. 270 (U.S. Tax Court, 1979)
Ketter v. Commissioner
70 T.C. 637 (U.S. Tax Court, 1978)
Carriage Square, Inc. v. Commissioner
69 T.C. 119 (U.S. Tax Court, 1977)
Estate of Bischoff v. Commissioner
69 T.C. 32 (U.S. Tax Court, 1977)
Buehner v. Commissioner
65 T.C. 723 (U.S. Tax Court, 1976)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
497 F.2d 1109, 34 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5044, 1974 U.S. App. LEXIS 8400, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adolph-k-krause-and-janet-s-krause-v-commissioner-of-internal-revenue-ca6-1974.