Bailey v. Commissioner

88 T.C. No. 72, 88 T.C. 1293, 1987 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 72
United States Tax Court·Decided May 18, 1987·No. Docket No. 21107-85·Published·Cited by 15 cases

Opinion

NlMS, Judge:

By notice of deficiency dated March 28, 1985, respondent determined deficiencies in petitioner’s income tax for the following taxable years:

Year Deficiency
1977 . $986.40
1978 . 32,424.61
1980 . 970.00
1981 . 624.00

By notice of deficiency dated March 14, 1986, respondent determined a deficiency in petitioner’s income tax for the 1979 taxable year in the amount of $28,615.66. Respondent’s amended answer alleged an additional deficiency in petitioner’s income tax in the amount of $754.60 for the taxable year 1977.

The issues for decision are: (1) Whether the payments made by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh to rehabilitate the historic facade of petitioner’s property are includable in petitioner’s gross income under section 61;1 (2) whether the payments made by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh are includable in petitioner’s basis in the building; (3) whether petitioner may claim a depreciation deduction with respect to the facade improvement; and (4) whether petitioner may claim an investment tax credit with respect to the property in question.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. The stipulation of facts and attached exhibits are incorporated herein by this reference.

At the time the petition in this case was filed, petitioner was a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Petitioner purchased the property at 1247 Liverpool Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15233 (sometimes also referred to as the property), from the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (hereinafter referred to as URA) on June 1, 1978, for $1,320. The property is located in the Manchester area of Pittsburgh, an area subject to an urban renewal project that began in the 1960s.

A “Redevelopment Area Plan — Urban Renewal Plan” (the plan) was adopted in Manchester. The plan was in effect during the years in issue. The plan was originally funded under title I of the Housing Act of 1949, 42 U.S.C. section 1450 et seq. After January 1, 1975, funding for the plan was provided under 42 U.S.C. section 5305(a)(10).

The property is located in a National Register historic district and a city historic district. The property is not listed in the National Register and is not certified by the Secretary of the Interior as being of historic significance to the district.

A facade grant program was conducted by the URA as part of the plan. The program provided facade grants to purchasers of property in Manchester to provide historic rehabilitation for the facades of the purchased property. In exchange for the purchaser’s agreement to remodel the interior of the structure, the URA agreed to rehabilitate the facade.

Under the facade grant program, the purchaser of property from the URA signed a facade rehabilitation agreement granting an easement, or right to enter the property, back to the URA. Before it obtained the easement from the purchaser, the URA secured a contractor to perform the required rehabilitation of the facade. The program was conducted in this manner to ensure that the facade would be rehabilitated in a manner consistent with the historic classification of the district.

The URA did not enter into a facade rehabilitation agreement with a property purchaser before it had chosen a contractor for the work. The URA was the party that received bids for the rehabilitation work performed on the facades in Manchester, and was the party that entered into the contract with the successful bidder. The amount of the facade grant for any particular property was established in advance and known to the URA at the time the facade rehabilitation agreement was secured, but was not made known to the purchaser of the property.

The general objectives of the plan were to: (1) Assist physical, economic, and social development of the community; (2) provide for a stabilized population and plan for the optimal growth of the area; (3) provide land for new housing, needed community facilities, project improvements, and open space; (4) make provision for a substantial number of housing units, of low and moderate cost, on land to be disposed of for residential purposes; (5) encourage a sense of community identity, safety, and civic pride; (6) preserve, where feasible, properties of historic and architectural value; (7) eliminate incompatible land uses; (8) eliminate structurally substandard buildings; (9) eliminate physical and environmental blight; and (10) eliminate impediments to land disposition and development.

Petitioner participated in the facade grant program. As part of the agreement for purchase of the property, on June 1, 1978, petitioner covenanted to make certain improvements to the property and, upon completion of the rehabilitation of the property, to make no changes in the improvements until October 22, 2010, that would constitute a major change in the improvements or in the utilization of the property without written approval of the URA.

Petitioner also signed an indenture agreement on June 1, 1978, granting the URA a right-to-enter easement in the property for the purpose of performing the facade rehabilitation. In the indenture agreement, petitioner also agreed to maintain, at his own expense, the exterior of the structure in its restored condition; not to make any changes, modifications, or alterations of any type to the restored exterior of the structure without written consent of the URA; and to rehabilitate and maintain the interior of the structure. Under the terms of the agreement, if petitioner fails at any time to maintain the exterior of the building, the URA has the right to enter the property to repair the exterior at petitioner’s expense. The covenant granting the URA the right to enter the property to repair the exterior at petitioner’s expense runs with the land.

In 1978, the URA allocated a facade grant of $63,121 for petitioner’s property. The URA contracted directly for the facade rehabilitation of the property. The contractor began to work on the facade in November 1978, and was paid as the work progressed. The URA made the following payments to the contractor:

Date Amount
Dec. 1, 1978 $13,360
Dec. 8, 1978 5,896
Jan. 1, 1979 4,800
Apr. 6, 1979 .'. 6,016
Date Amount
June 29, 1979 . $2,430
Aug. 3, 1979 . 3,821
Sept. 7, 1979 . 8,182
Nov. 30, 1979 . 13,616
Jan. 29, 1980 .

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Bailey v. Commissioner, 88 T.C. No. 72, 88 T.C. 1293, 1987 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 72 (tax 1987).

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