Bechtold v. Department of Revenue

543 P.2d 665, 273 Or. 762, 1975 Ore. LEXIS 374
Oregon Supreme Court·Decided December 18, 1975·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

HOWELL, J.

This suit was brought in the Oregon Tax Court seeking to reverse a holding by the Department of Revenue which denied plaintiffs’ claim for a refund of their 1971 Oregon income tax. In the tax court the plaintiffs contended that ORS 316.072(2) allowed them to carry forward net losses on state taxable income reported in 1969 and 1970. The losses were attributable to deductions for federal income taxes paid for years prior to January 1, 1969. The tax court, in [764]*764reversing the ruling of the Department of Revenue, held that while plaintiffs were not entitled to a refund of their 1971 tax payments, they were entitled to a carry-back of their 1969 and 1970 losses to a tax year or years prior to 1969, and to a refund based thereon. Bechtold v. Dept. of Rev., 5 OTR 629 (1974). The Department of Revenue appealed. We affirm.

The facts in this case have been stipulated. Only the tax years 1969 and 1970 are involved; however, plaintiffs’ tax situation in 1968 should be mentioned because of the effect it had on the plaintiffs’ income tax liability in 1969 and 1970.

In 1968 plaintiffs’ federal income tax liability amounted to $203,736 as. a result of the sale of a substantial number of shares of stock. During 1968 plaintiffs paid approximately $59,000 in federal income taxes, and at the end of the year plaintiffs owed a balance in federal income taxes of $144,874. Plaintiffs’ tax liability to the state of Oregon was $31,680 for 1968. In their computation of Oregon income tax liability for 1968, the plaintiffs did not deduct the $144,-874 in federal income taxes paid in 1969 for the 1968 tax year. Prior to the enactment of the Personal Income Tax Act of 1969, cash basis taxpayers, like the plaintiffs, were required to deduct their federal taxes in the year such taxes were actually paid, rather than in the, tax year in which the federal taxes were incurred.

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Bechtold v. Department of Revenue, 543 P.2d 665, 273 Or. 762, 1975 Ore. LEXIS 374 (Or. 1975).

543 P.2d 665 (Bechtold v. Department of Revenue) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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