Bankers Trust Co. v. United States

156 F. Supp. 930, 140 Ct. Cl. 385, 1 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 376, 1957 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 24
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedDecember 4, 1957
DocketNo. 65-54
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 156 F. Supp. 930 (Bankers Trust Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bankers Trust Co. v. United States, 156 F. Supp. 930, 140 Ct. Cl. 385, 1 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 376, 1957 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 24 (cc 1957).

Opinion

Maris, Circuit Judge,

sitting by designation, delivered the opinion of the court:

This is a suit to recover income taxes which the plaintiffs allege were erroneously paid for the taxable year 1948 in the amount of $1,718,504.43. The Bankers Trust Company, trustee of the Sumner Moore Kirby Trust, one of the plaintiffs, filed a Federal fiduciary income tax return for the trust for that year on the cash receipts and disbursements basis reporting a tax liability of $1,718,504.43 which it paid to the collector. Included in taxable income reported on the return was the sum of $3,428,419.77 as 50 percent of net gain from long term capital gain resulting from the exchange of capital assets, stock of Fremkir Corporation for stock of F. W. Woolworth Company. The gain resulted from the use of a cost basis of $635,066.73. If, as the plaintiffs now contend should be done, a cost basis of $8,228,403.76 were used, no income tax liability would have arisen for the year 1948.

The trustee timely filed a claim for refund of the entire amount of taxes paid by the Sumner Moore Kirby Trust for the year 1948. Gloria Kirby Conahay and the guardian of Helene Louise Kirby timely filed claims for refund for the purpose of protecting their respective interests in the alleged overpayment of 1948 taxes. All three refund claims were [387]*387grounded upon the same issues presented in this suit. Before the statutory notices of disallowance of these three claims for refund were issued as provided in section 3772 (a) (2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939 plaintiffs commenced this suit. Consequently, the disallowance notices were not issued.

The circumstances out of which the issues presented in this case arise are that on September 15, 1931, Sumner Moore Kirby created a trust, with the Bankers Trust Company named as trustee. The corpus of the trust consisted of 30,000 shares of stock of the Fremkir Corporation which had been given to Sumner Moore Kirby by his father in 1923, when the corporation was organized. Prior to the death of Sumner Moore Kirby the basis for determining gain or loss of the stock in the hands of the trustee was $635,066.73, the sum which was used in determining the net long term capital gain reported in the fiduciary income tax return.

The trust instrument provided in Article First that the donor was to receive the first $80,000 of income for life, the next $12,000 was payable to Doris Kirby, his wife, for life, and the balance of income was payable to his daughter Gloria Kirby (now Gloria Kirby Conahay), for life. The trust instrument further provided by Article Eighth, as follows:

Eighth: Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein contained, the Donor may, from time to time, during the continuance of the trust, by instrument in writing executed and acknowledged in the manner required for a deed of real property so as to enable it to be recorded in the State of New York and delivered to the Trustee, with the written consent of the Donor’s father, Fred M. KIRBY, his executors, administrators or legal representatives, modify or alter in any manner, or revoke in whole or in part, this Indenture and the trusts then existing, and the estates and interests in property hereby created, and in the case of such revocation said instrument shall direct the disposition to be made of the trust fund, or of the portion thereof affected by such revocation, and the Trustee shall make, execute and deliver such instruments, if any, and make such conveyances and transfers of property as may be necessary or proper in order to carry the same into effect, and no one shall have any right, interest or estate under this Indenture except [388]*388subject to such proper modification, alteration or revocation thereof.

By an amendment made in the trust instrument under date of April 28, 1932, it was provided that in case of the death of Sumner Moore Kirby, two-thirds of the corpus should be divided between Gloria Kirby Conahay and his widow and any other issue surviving him. Subsequently on December 14,1934, Article Eighth of the trust instrument was amended by adding at the end of the article the following:

Provided, However, that this power of modification, alteration or revocation shall not be exercised so as to operate in any manner to increase the interest of the Donor or his estate in the income from the trust funds or to revest in the Donor or his estate title to any part of the principal of the trust funds or accumulated income thereon.

On April 7, 1945, Sumner Moore Kirby died at which time he was survived by his former wife, Doris Kirby Barbour, and his two daughters, Gloria Kirby Conahay and Helene Louise Kirby. Thereafter, one-third of the corpus of the trust was distributed to Gloria Conahay together with the accumulation of income and one-third to Helene Kirby. The remaining one-third of the corpus was held by the trustee for the continuing trust for the benefit of Mrs. Barbour and Gloria Conahay.

During his lifetime the entire income of the trust was taxable to Sumner Moore Kirby and the Federal income tax due and payable thereon was paid to the United States accordingly.

The trust property was not reported as part of the gross estate on the Federal estate tax return filed by the executor. Upon examination of the Federal estate tax return, the Commissioner of Internal Kevenue determined that the trust should be included in the gross taxable estate. Subsequently a compromise was effected, whereby the estate tax liability arising from the inclusion of the trust in the taxable estate was fixed at $3,088,180.47. This compromise was made on the basis of a 25 percent reduction from the ascertained value of the 30,000 Fremkir Corporation shares which comprised the principal of the trust. Thus the ascertained value of the [389]*389Fremkir shares, $8,288,403.76, was reduced to $6,171,302.84 and estimated trust administration expenses of $185,063.34 were subtracted, leaving a final valuation of $5,986,239.50. Based upon these figures a closing agreement was signed by the trustee, the executor and the various beneficiaries under the trust on January 7, 1949, and was signed by the Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue on February 14, 1949, and approved by the Acting Secretary of the Treasury on March 21, 1949.

The decedent’s estate was insolvent and the burden of paying the Federal estate tax accordingly fell upon the Sumner Moore Kirby Trust under the provisions of section 827 (a) and (b) of the 1939 Internal Revenue Code. To enable the trust to pay the tax, it was necessary for it to liquidate a large part of its holdings. Inasmuch as the 30,000 shares of Fremkir stock owned by the trust constituted the only holding in the trust principal account and it had no ready market value, being a family corporation, it was decided that the only way of getting marketable assets was through the Fremkir Corporation. Accordingly, negotiations were instituted with the officers of the Fremkir Corporation. This resulted in the exchange with such corporation on September 10,1948, of the 30,000 shares of Fremkir Corporation owned by the trust for 173,500 shares of F. W. Woolworth Company stock. It is upon this exchange that the trustee reported a gain and paid the tax for the recovery of which the present suit was brought.

Having provided itself with necessary funds by effectuating the exchange of the Fremkir Corporation stock for stock which was marketable, the trustee made payment of $3,100,000 to the collector of Internal Revenue on November 1, 1948.

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Bluebook (online)
156 F. Supp. 930, 140 Ct. Cl. 385, 1 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 376, 1957 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 24, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bankers-trust-co-v-united-states-cc-1957.