Bell v. Commissioner

76 T.C. 232, 1981 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 172
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedFebruary 18, 1981
DocketDocket No. 4789-79
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 76 T.C. 232 (Bell 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
Bell v. Commissioner, 76 T.C. 232, 1981 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 172 (tax 1981).

Opinion

Wiles, Judge:

Respondent determined a $2,520 deficiency in petitioner’s 1974 income tax. The sole issue for decision is whether petitioner, the obligor under a private annuity agreement, is entitled to an interest expense deduction for 1974 under section 1631 for any portion of the annual payment made pursuant to the private annuity agreement.

FINDINGS OF FACT

All the facts have been stipulated and are found accordingly.

Petitioner Rebecca Bell resided in Jekyll Island Marina, Ga., when she filed her 1974 income tax return and when she filed her petition in this case.

Prior to December 4,1972, petitioner’s father, Charles R. Bell (hereinafter Mr. Bell), was the sole owner of 2,820 shares of the common stock of the Nodaway Valley Bank, Maryville, Mo. (hereinafter Nodaway), which represented 23.5 percent of Nodaway’s outstanding common stock. Other members of Mr. Bell’s family, including his wife, Lela Hackney Bell (hereinafter Mrs. Bell), petitioner, and petitioner’s sister, owned 1,260 shares of Nodaway. Together, Mr. Bell and his family owned 34 percent of Nodaway’s outstanding stock.

Sometime prior to December 4, 1972, petitioner entered into negotiations with Mr. Bell for the purchase of 1,400 shares of his Nodaway stock. Pursuant to these negotiations, certain projections were developed which reflected both the financial and tax aspects of purchasing the stock by means of a private annuity arrangement which would pay Mr. Bell and Mrs. Bell $15,000 per year so long as either of them lived. On the basis of an age of 60 for Mr. Bell and an age of 62 for Mrs. Bell, the projections determined, pursuant to Table LT6, Actuarial Values II, IRS Publication 723A (1970) (hereinafter Table LT6), that the present value of the annuity would be $174,270. Furthermore, the application of Rev. Rul. 69-74, 1969-1 C.B. 43, to the proposed transaction indicated that Mr. Bell and Mrs. Bell would be required to treat $7,915.45 of each annual payment as ordinary annuity income under section 72.

On December 4,1972, petitioner and Mr. Bell entered into an agreement (hereinafter the agreement) whereby Mr. Bell sold to petitioner 1,400 shares of Nodaway stock, with an agreed fair market value of $173,600, in exchange for petitioner’s promise to pay Mr. Bell and Mrs. Bell $15,000 per year for the remainder of their joint lives and the life of the survivor of them. The material provisions of the agreement provided as follows:

This is an Agreement entered into this 4th day of December, 1972, by and between REBECCA BELL, an individual, residing in New York, New York, (hereinafter referred to as “Transferee”), and CHARLES R. BELL, an individual, residing in Maryville, Missouri, (hereinafter referred to as “Transferor”).
Witnesseth:
Whereas, Transferor is the owner of One Thousand Four Hundred (1,400) shares of stock in NODAWAY VALLEY BANK; and
Whereas, Transferor desires to assure a fixed annual income for the remainder of his life and the remainder of the life of Transferor’s wife, LELA HACKNEY BELL, regardless of whether or not the said stock earns any dividends; and
Whereas, Transferee desires to own said stock and is willing to make fixed annual payments to Transferor and his wife in exchange therefor, for the remainder of Transferor’s life and the remainder of the life of Transferor’s wife, LELA HACKNEY BELL; and
Whereas, Transferor and Transferee have mutually agreed that the One Thousand Four Hundred (1,400) shares of stock presently owned by Transferor have a fair market value of One Hundred Twenty-Four Dollars ($124.00) per share;
Now Therefore, in consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein, the parties agree as follows:
(1) Transferor hereby sells, transfers, and assigns absolutely to Transferee One Thousand Four Hundred (1,400) shares of common stock in NODAWAY VALLEY BANK.
(2) In consideration of Transferor’s sale, transfer and absolute assignment of said One Thousand Four Hundred (1,400) shares of stock as provided in paragraph (1) above, Transferee hereby agrees to pay to Transferor and Transferor’s said wife an annuity of Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00) per annum during their joint lives and the life of the survivor of them. The first such annual payment shall be due on the first anniversary of this Agreement, beginning in the year 1973, and subsequent annual payments shall be made in each year on the anniversary date of this Agreement.
(3) Parties hereby expressly agree that Transferee’s obligation under the preceding paragraph shall terminate upon the death of the survivor of Transferor and Transferor’s said wife, and no heir, legatee, creditor or beneficiary of either the estate of Transferor or Transferor’s said wife, nor the estate of either, shall have any rights whatsoever under this Agreement; provided, however, that if the survivor of Transferor and Transferor’s said wife shall die prior to the receipt of any amount owed to the survivor of Transferor and Transferor’s said wife under this Agreement for any year, then the amount otherwise payable to Transferor or Transferor’s said wife for that year shall be paid to such beneficiary as is designated by the survivor of Transferor and Transferor’s said wife, in writing. In the absence of such designation, such payment shall be made to the estate of the survivor of Transferor and Transferor’s said wife.
(4) Transferee shall be absolutely liable for payments due under paragraph (2) of this Agreement and such payments are in no way contingent upon Transferee’s future earnings on NODAWAY VALLEY BANK stock.
(5) It is expressly understood that Transferor retains no security interest, mortgage, lien or pledge with respect to the shares of stock transferred under this Agreement.
(6) Transferor hereby warrants that he has good title to the stock transferred hereunder, and that said stock is free and clear of all liens, pledges and incumbrances of any kind whatsoever.

On the date of the agreement, Mr. Bell was 60 years of age and Mrs. Bell was 62 years of age. They had a joint life expectancy of 24.6 years, and based upon such life expectancy, the expected return from the annuity was $369,000. The present value of the annuity received by Mr. Bell was $174,270.

The agreement represents the entire understanding between petitioner and Mr. Bell regarding the transaction therein undertaken. Petitioner has not executed any note to Mr. Bell in connection with the agreement, and Mr. Bell has not loaned petitioner any money to make the payments required under the agreement. At the time petitioner and Mr. Bell executed the agreement, petitioner intended to claim an interest expense deduction for a portion of each payment made thereunder. Petitioner is not in the business of writing annuity contracts for profit and is not an obligor under any other annuity agreement.

From 1973 through 1976, petitioner received dividends on the Nodaway stock transferred to her by Mr.

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Related

Rye v. United States
25 Cl. Ct. 592 (Court of Claims, 1992)
Garvey, Inc. v. United States
1 Cl. Ct. 108 (Court of Claims, 1983)
Rebecca Bell v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
668 F.2d 448 (Eighth Circuit, 1982)
Bell v. Commissioner
76 T.C. 232 (U.S. Tax Court, 1981)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
76 T.C. 232, 1981 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 172, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bell-v-commissioner-tax-1981.