B. F. Goodrich Co. v. Commissioner

1 T.C. 1098, 1943 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 169
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedMay 11, 1943
DocketDocket No. 106126
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 1 T.C. 1098 (B. F. Goodrich 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
B. F. Goodrich Co. v. Commissioner, 1 T.C. 1098, 1943 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 169 (tax 1943).

Opinions

OPINION.

Murdock, Judge:

The Commissioner determined a deficiency of $27,310.89 in income tax for the calendar year 1936. One of the adjustments made by him in determining the deficiency was the dis-allowance of a deduction of $88,977.16 which he held was interest on bonds accruing in January 1937 and, therefore, not a proper deduction for 1936. The petitioner assigns that action as error. Another adjustment which the Commissioner made in determining the deficiency was the exclusion from income as nontaxable of an amount of $136,970.23 described as “French bank loan transaction.” The Commissioner has moved to increase the deficiency on the ground that he erred in excluding this latter item from income. The facts have been stipulated and the stipulation is adopted as the findings of fact.

The petitioner filed its income tax return for the taxable year with the collector of internal revenue at Cleveland, Ohio. That return was on an accrual basis.

The petitioner issued $25,000,000 of its 6% percent mortgage bonds in 1922. The bonds were to mature on July 1, 1947. The Bankers Trust Co. was trustee. The mortgage indenture was recorded. The indenture provided that all outstanding bonds could be called for redemption by the petitioner upon the first day of any month upon payment of the principal with accrued interest to the date of call and a premium of 7 percent, provided the petitioner should give notice of the call at least 60 days prior to the date fixed for redemption.

The petitioner decided to issue new bonds at a 4*4 percent rate and to redeem the remaining outstanding 6y2 percent bonds above described. It gave the required notice in December 1936 that the 6% percent bonds were called for redemption on February 1,1937, and the holders could receive immediate payment of the full redemption price, including principal, premium, and interest to February 1,1937, upon surrender of the bonds at any time prior to January 1,1937, with January 1,1937, and subsequent coupons attached. The petitioner deposited funds with the trustee on December 1, 1936, for redemption of the bonds. $16,421,500 of the amount deposited represented the face amount of the outstanding bonds, and the remaining amount deposited covered the 7 percent premium and interest on the bonds to February 1,1937. The trustee on that same day marked the indenture as follows: “The condition of this Mortgage and Deed of Trust has been complied with and is hereby satisfied and discharged.” The mortgage was satisfied' of record on December 4, 1936. All registered holders of bonds', were notified by mail on December 4 of the terms of redemption of the bonds. The new bond issue was placed on the market and offered for sale shortly after December 1,1936.

All but $5,821,500 face amount of the &y2 percent bonds had been paid and canceled by the close of business on December 31, 1936.

The petitioner entered a charge of $177,954.32 in its interest account on the 6y2 percent mortgage bonds on November 25, 1936, and the account was closed by a charge to profit and loss on December 31, 1936. The item of $177,954.32 represented interest on the bonds for December 1936 and January 1937. The petitioner claimed the above item as a deduction for interest on its income tax return for 1936. The Commissioner, in determining the deficiency, disallowed $88,977.16 thereof, the equivalent of interest on the bonds for January 1937.

The petitioner contends that the item of $88,977.16 which the Commissioner has disallowed as a deduction for 1936 was not in fact a prepayment of interest but was, like the 7 percent premium, an ordinary and necessary expense which the petitioner was called upon to incur and pay in 1936 in carrying on its business. It gives various definitions of interest and claims that this item does not meet any of them. It says:

No interest was paid by tbe Petitioner after November 30, 1936, on the bonds redeemed by it on December 1, 1936, nor was any interest accrued on them, for there was no debt upon which interest could accrue, be calculated, or attach.
* ******
The obligation of the Petitioner to its bondholders became due at some time prior to the actual payment on December 1, 1936, the date on which the debt was extinguished. On December 1,1936, the mortgage and trust deed securing the payment of these bonds became satisfied and discharged. The claim of the Trustee for itself and the bondholders which it represented was extinguished and completely satisfied when the payment of the full amount due under the indenture was made. (Section 2, Article II, Exhibit A to the Stipulation of Fact, pages 48 and 49).

These statements or arguments of the petitioner are not supported by the facts. The published notices of redemption were dated December 2,1936. The notices were not mailed or published until that date and later. They stated that the petitioner had:

« * * elected to redeem and pay and will redeem and pay on February 1, 1937, all of the above-mentioned bonds then outstanding, at one hundred seven per cent. (107%) of the principal amount thereof, together with accrued interest on said bonds to said date, in accordance with the terms of said bonds and said Indenture, and that all of said bonds are called for redemption on said date. * * * Interest on said bonds will cease to accrue on and after February 1, 1937.

The notices also stated that holders could receive immediate payment in full by prompt surrender of their bonds before the due date.

Obviously the bonds were not redeemed on December 1, 1936. The period of the loan was not terminated on that date. The obligation of the petitioner to its bondholders could not possibly have become “due at some date prior * * * to December 1,1936.” The deposit of funds with the trustee on December 1,1936, and the satisfaction of the mortgage did not terminate the period of the loan. The mortgage was to secure the loan. When cash was paid by the debtor into the hands of the trustee, that cash was sufficient security and the mortgage was no longer necessary. But the loan was not thereby satisfied. It could not have been satisfied under the terms of the indenture prior to the due date unless, prior to that date, the bondholders had actually surrendered their bonds for cancellation and redemption and had received the payments to which they were entitled. The petitioner cites no authority for its contention that there was no debt after December 1,1936, and we know of none. It refers to section 2 of the mortgage indenture, but that section does not support its contention. The section provides that if proper funds have been deposited and due notice given, certain things shall happen “on such redemption date” so that the bondholders shall not be entitled to any benefits thereafter except their right to receive their proportionate part of the funds deposited with the trustee upon surrender of their bonds. The debt continued to exist after December 1,1936, and a part continued to exist after December 31,1936.

Neither is the contention of the respondent on this point entirely sound. He argues that the entire $88,977.16 was a prepayment of interest for January 1937 which accrued during that month and not earlier. He also argues that none of the loan was terminated in December 1936.

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B. F. Goodrich Co. v. Commissioner
1 T.C. 1098 (U.S. Tax Court, 1943)

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Bluebook (online)
1 T.C. 1098, 1943 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 169, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/b-f-goodrich-co-v-commissioner-tax-1943.