Agency of Canadian Car & Foundry Co. v. Commissioner

39 T.C. 15, 1962 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 59
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedOctober 3, 1962
DocketDocket Nos. 83825, 83826
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 39 T.C. 15 (Agency of Canadian Car & Foundry Co. v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Agency of Canadian Car & Foundry Co. v. Commissioner, 39 T.C. 15, 1962 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 59 (tax 1962).

Opinion

HaRRON, Judge:

The respondent determined deficiencies in income tax for the years 1954-1957, inclusive, as follows:

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Petitioner received a Mixed Claims Commission award in 1939 under a claim against Germany for sabotage losses sustained in 1917. During the taxable years, petitioner received payments from the United States Treasury Department with respect to the award. The questions for decision are: (1) Whether the payments on the award received in the taxable years qualify as capital gain under section 1232(a) (1) of the 1954 Code, or are taxable as ordinary income. (2) Whether petitioner, an accrual basis taxpayer, is entitled to deduct in 1955, 1956, and 1957 additional New York corporation franchise taxes for those years which it reported and paid in 1961.

FINDINGS OF FACT.

Some of the facts have been stipulated. They are found as stipulated; the stipulations are incorporated herein by this reference.

Petitioner is a New York corporation which was incorporated in 1915; its principal office is in New York City. Its returns for the taxable years were filed with the director of internal revenue for the District of Lower Manhattan. Petitioner keeps its books and files its returns on an accrual method of accounting.

Issue 1. — On January 11, 1917, petitioner’s plant and factory at Kingsland, New Jersey, was completely destroyed by explosions and fires. Prior thereto petitioner’s principal business was the production of munitions for sale to Allied Governments during World War I. The destruction of the Kingsland plant gave rise to a claim of the petitioner against the Government of Germany for damages resulting from sabotage, which was duly filed in 1924 by the United States on behalf of the petitioner with the Mixed Claims Commission, United States and Germany. The Commission was established pursuant to the agreement of August 10, 1922, between the United States and Germany to determine the amounts to be paid by Germany in satisfaction of Germany’s financial obligations to the United States Government and its nationals for losses and damages sustained during World War I, as provided for under the Treaty of Berlin concluded between the two Governments on August 25,1921.

In due course, the Mixed Claims Commission entered an award in petitioner’s favor on October 30, 1939. The decision of the Commission was that the German Government was liable to the United States Government, on behalf of petitioner, for damages for losses sustained at Kingsland, and that under the Treaty of Berlin, the German Government was obligated to pay the United States, on petitioner’s behalf, the sum of $5,871,105.20 with interest from January 31, 1917, to the date of payment, at the rate of 5 percent per annum. The decision of the Commission was final and binding upon the two Governments.

Although petitioner’s claim was presented to the Mixed Claims Commission by a representative of the United States, of necessity, and the title of the proceeding was “United States of America on behalf of Agency of Canadian Car and Foundry Company, Limited, Claimant v. Germany,” petitioner engaged and paid its own attorney, Amos J. Peaslee, who actively participated throughout the proceedings.

The Congress enacted the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928 on March 10, 1928 (Pub, L. 122, ch. 167, 45 Stat. 254), which was later amended by the Act of March 3, 1933, and the Act of August 6, 1947. (Pub. L. 426, 72d Cong., 2d Sess., ch. 210; Pub. L. 375, 80th Cong., 1st Sess., ch. 506.) This Act made provisions inter alia for the settlement of certain claims of American nationals against Germany and, in general, it created the system under which the awards of the Mixed Claims Commission would be paid. It provided that the Secretary of State should certify to the Secretary of the Treasury the awards made by tbe Mixed Claims Commission; it created a German special deposit account in tbe Treasury into wbicb there would be deposited all funds specified and from wbicb there would be disbursed all payments authorized, including payments on account of the certified awards of tbe Mixed Claims Commission. Tbe Secretary of tbe Treasury was authorized to make payments out of tbe German special deposit account in accordance with such regulations as be deemed necessary. Such Act also provided that there should be deducted from each payment out of tbe special deposit account an amount equal to one-half of 1 percent thereof as reimbursement for tbe expenses incurred by tbe United States in respect of tbe payments. The Act as amended established certain priorities of payments out of tbe special deposit account. It also authorized tbe Secretary of tbe Treasury to pay out of tbe special deposit account an amount equal to tbe principal of each certified Mixed Claims Commission award, plus tbe interest accruing thereon up to January 1,1928; and to pay simple interest at tbe rate of 5 percent per annum beginning January 1, 1928, on tbe unpaid balances, until paid, of tbe total sum of each award on January 1, 1928, arrived at by adding tbe interest accrued to that date to tbe amount of tbe individual awards.

Under tbe provisions of the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928, referred to above, the Mixed Claims Commission award on petitioner’s claim in the amount of $5,811,105.20 accumulated 5-percent interest each year from January 31, 1917, to January 1, 1928, in tbe amount of $3,204,980.03; tbe accumulated interest was added to the principal amount of tbe award resulting in a total principal sum of $9,076,085.23; after January 1, 1928, 5-percent interest per year then accrued on the principal sum of $9,076,085.23.

On June 23, 1930, tbe United States and Germany concluded another treaty providing for tbe final discharge of obligations of Germany to tbe United States in respect of awards of the Mixed Claims Commission and the costs of the United States Army of occupation. This agreement provided inter alia for tbe funding of Germany’s obligations under tbe awards of the Mixed Claims Commission. Germany issued to the United States bonds of Germany in amounts believed sufficient to pay all of the awards made and to be made by tbe Commission, and interest thereon, to the United States and its nationals. The 1930 German bonds were held in tbe German special deposit account. Germany agreed to pay in satisfaction of its obligations under the awards of the Commission, plus interest, tbe sum of 40,800,000 reichsmarks for the period September 1,1929, to March 31, 1930, and the sum of 40,800,000 reichsmarks per annum from April 1, 1930, to March 31, 1981. As evidence of this indebtedness, Germany issued to the United States bonds dated September 1, 1929, in the total amount of 40,800,000 reichsmarks, maturing March 31,1930, and additional bonds in tbe total amount of 40,800,000 reichsmarks maturing serially on March 31 and September 30 in each succeeding year until March 31, 1981. The obligations of Germany were to end as soon as all of the payments contemplated by the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928 were completed and the bonds not then matured evidencing such obligations were then to be canceled and returned to Germany. All of the bonds were to be paid at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in funds immediately available in gold coin in an amount in dollars equal to the amount due in reichsmarks at a prescribed exchange rate.

In 1933, Germany defaulted on its bonds issued pursuant to the 1930 agreement.

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Bluebook (online)
39 T.C. 15, 1962 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 59, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/agency-of-canadian-car-foundry-co-v-commissioner-tax-1962.