Alexander v. Rea

110 F.2d 898, 5 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) 1635, 24 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 807, 1940 U.S. App. LEXIS 4689
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedMarch 18, 1940
DocketNo. 1891
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 110 F.2d 898 (Alexander v. Rea) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alexander v. Rea, 110 F.2d 898, 5 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) 1635, 24 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 807, 1940 U.S. App. LEXIS 4689 (10th Cir. 1940).

Opinion

PHILLIPS, Circuit Judge.

The Rea & Read Mill and Elevator Company1 was a corporation organized under fhe laws of Oklahoma. On or about July 1, 1930, it was dissolved, and Will G. Rea and Frank Foresman, its only living directors, became trustees for the creditors and stockholders under § 9788, O.S.1931, 18 Okl.St.Ann. § 163. '

On April 1, 1918, the Elevator Company sold a tract of land, on which its milling plant was located, to the Tulsa and Santa Fe Railway Company2 for a consideration of $65,000. The sale did not include the plant. On April '5, 1918, the Railway Company and the Elevator Company entered into a written lease whereby the former leased to the latter the ground purchased for a term of two years at a rental of $250.00 per month. The lease gave the Elevator Company the privilege of renewal at the end of the two-year term for one year or longer, provided the Railway Company should not then need the land for railroad purposes. It recognized the right of the Elevator Company to remove the buildings from the leased premises and provided that the Elevator Company might terminate the lease on thirty days’ written notice to the Railway Company, and that upon such termination and removal of the buildings by the Elevator Company, further liability for rent should cease.

On April 30, 1919, the Elevator Company filed its income and profits tax return for the year ,1918, disclosing a net income of' $16,137.73'and a tax liability of $3,228.59, which it paid.

On October 18, 1923, a revenue agent made a report on the Elevator Company’s income for the year 1918. He included in such income the $65,000 received from the sale of the land to the Railway Company and found the March 1, 1913 fair market value of such land to be $26,000, and the profit derived from the sale to be $39,000. _ He determined the net income of the Elevator Company to be $56,914.95 and proposed an additional tax of $33,837.33. On November 6, 1923, a copy of the report was furnished to the Elevator Company. On February 2, 1924, the Commissioner advised the Elevator Company that the ad[900]*900ditional tax liability of $33,837.33, proposed by the revenue agent, had been approved. Thereafter, the Elevator Company, from time to time, lodged protests and claims with the Commissioner in which it asserted that the March 1, 1913 valuation of the land should be fixed at $50,000, and since.it was required to dismantle and remove the milling plant at the end of the term of the lease, that it should be allowed a deduction equal to the January 1, 1918 value of the buildings and equipment on the leased premises, less their salvage value allocated to the years 1918 and 1919. It submitted with one protest an appraisal of the land and the plant made by the Southwestern Appraisal Company in 1919, wherein the Appraisal Company fixed the March 1, 1913 valuation of the land at $50,000 and of the buildings at $57,157.33. '

The Commissioner refused to accept the report of the Appraisal Company on the ground that it contained no inventory on the date made, failed to show the manner of eliminating subsequent- additions, gave no dates of acquisition or other information necessary to establish values, and did not conform with TD 3367.

On April 2, 1924, the Elevator Company asserted that computation of the taxes under §§ 301 and 3023 would result in an abnormal profit being taxed at a rate in excess of 60 per cent.

On November 22, 1924, the Commissioner advised the Elevator Company that its application under § 327 for assessment of its profits tax for the year 1918 under the provisions of § 328 had been allowed and 'that an audit of its tax liability for the year 1918 disclosed a deficiency of $26,941.45. The tax was determined upon a net income of $'56,914.95.

On January 5, 1925, the Commissioner addressed a letter to the Elevator Company proposing a deficiency of $26,941.45 and advising that the Elevator Company had 60 days within which to appeal to the United States Board of Tax Appeals. A petition for review by the Board of Tax • Appeals was thereafter timely filed by the Elevator Company.

Before the petition for review came on for hearing before the Board of Tax Appeals, the Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue-on August 12, 1925, addressed a letter to the Elevator Company advising that in view of representations made by the internal revenue agent in charge at Oklahoma City, the profit realized on the sale of the land had been reduced in the amount of $24,000, and that after giving effect to the reduction, the additional tax amounted to $14,061.31. Attached to the letter was a statement showing the adjusted net income to be $32,914.95, after deducting $24,000 from the amount previously determined. The letter further advised that if the Elevator Company would withdraw its appeal to the Board of Tax Appeals, the deficiency would be computed in accordance with the attached statement. On September 12, 1925, the Elevator Company withdrew its appeal.

In a letter to the Commissioner dated September 24, 1925, W. B. Paul, Esq., attorney for the Elevator Company, acknowledged receipt of the Acting Commissioner’s letter, stated that the appeal had been withdrawn, pointed out that the statement attached to the Acting Commissioner’s letter showed a computation of tax under § 301 instead of § 328, stated that the change in income did not eliminate the abnormal profit, but merely reduced the amount thereof, and that almost 50 per cent of the taxable income resulted from the sale of land held prior to March 1, 1913, made, not because of a favorable market due to war conditions, but under threat of condemnation proceedings by the Railway Company, and requested that the case be returned to the Special Assessment Section.

On October 9, 1925, the Commissioner acknowledged receipt of Mr. Paul’s letter and advised that pursuant to the request therein contained, the case was being considered under the provisions of §§ 327 and 328.

On December 7, 1925, the Commissioner addressed a letter to the Elevator Company advising it that a reaudit of its income and profits tax return for the year 1918 had resulted in a deficiency in tax of $10,466.34 as shown by a statement4 attached to the [901]*901letter, and that if it acquiesced in such determination, it was requested to sign the enclosed agreement consenting to the assessment of such deficiency.

On December 29, 1925, the Elevator .Company forwarded to the Commissioner an agreement waiving the right of appeal under § 274(a) of the Revenue Act of 1924, 26 U.S.C.A. Int. Rev. Act, and consenting to the immediate assessment of a deficiency in the amount of $10,466.34. It attached thereto the following statement:

“The undersigned taxpayer does not waive the right to file a claim for refund in the amount of $10,466.34, or any other amount properly subject to refund.”

Thereupon, a deficiency of $10,466.34 was assessed. The deficiency assessment was paid by the Elevator Company as follows: On April 26, 1926, $9,009.15, and on July 8, 1926, $1,457.19 tax, and $43.71 interest.

On February 26, 1928, the Elevator Company filed a claim for the refund of $10,466.34. The claim was based on the contention that its milling plant had a life of 24 months from April 1, 1918, the term of the lease from the Railway Company, and that it was entitled to a depreciation of the value of the plant, less its salvage value 5

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Related

Johnston-Crews Co. v. United States
38 F. Supp. 544 (E.D. South Carolina, 1941)

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Bluebook (online)
110 F.2d 898, 5 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) 1635, 24 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 807, 1940 U.S. App. LEXIS 4689, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alexander-v-rea-ca10-1940.