Block One Thirty-Nine, Inc. v. Commissioner

17 T.C. 1364, 1952 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 269
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedFebruary 21, 1952
DocketDocket Nos. 10925, 26636, 26637
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 17 T.C. 1364 (Block One Thirty-Nine, Inc. 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
Block One Thirty-Nine, Inc. v. Commissioner, 17 T.C. 1364, 1952 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 269 (tax 1952).

Opinion

OPINION.

Black, Judge:

The only question presented in these proceedings is whether petitioner is entitled to. any relief from excess profits taxes under section 722 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code for the fiscal years ended February 28,1943,1944, and 1945, and for the tax period from March 1, to December 31, 1945.

The applicable statute is printed in the margin.2

It will be noted that section 722 (c) provides three grounds for relief. Petitioner does not claim that section 722 (c) (1) and (2) have any application. .Petitioner claims that under section 722 (c) (3) its tax is excessive and discriminatory because its invested capital is abnormally low. If a taxpayer corporation qualifies for relief under section 722 (c) (3), it must establish constructive average base period net earnings under section 722 (a). Thus, while grounds for relief are all concerned with invested capital the manner of computing relief is basically the same as under section 722 (b).

At the beginning of this discussion it should be pointed out that it is not enough for a taxpayer corporation to prove that it is entitled to relief under one of the three grounds specified under section 722 (c). It must go further and establish a constructive average base period net income which will give it a larger excess profits credit than is given under the invested capital method. In discussing section 722 (c) in Danco Co., 14 T. C. 276, this Coürt stated:

[At p. 282] The existence of one of the qualifying conditions specified in the statute is not sufficient to establish a taxpayer’s right to relief under section 722 (e), for the reason that the condition may not result in the invested capital method being an inadequate standard for the determination of the excess profits credit or because it may be more than outweighed by other unusual war conditions operating to the taxpayer’s advantage during the taxable years. Therefore, the taxpayer must demonstrate the inadequacy of its excess profits credit based on invested c¿pital by showing that the inadequacy results from one of the above factors and by establishing within the framework of section 722 (a) a fair and just amount representing normal earnings to be used as a constructive average base period net income.
[At p. 287] As we have previously pointed out, the mere existence of the qualifying features of section 722 (c) doés not establish a taxpayer’s right to relief. The petitioner must further demonstrate the inadequacy of its excess profits credit based upon invested capital by establishing under section 722 (a) a fair and just amount representing normal earnings to be used as a constructive average base period net income. Cf. Lamar Creamery Co., 8 T. C. 928; Irwin B. Schwabe Co., 12 T. C. 606.

For the purpose of a decision in the instant case we will assume that petitioner has proved its ground under section 722 (c) (3). But has it established a constructive average base period net income which will give it a larger excess profits credit than the Commissioner has allowed under the invested capital method? We do not think petitioner has met its burden of proof in this respect, even if we assume that petitioner has established as large a constructive average base period net income as it now claims in its briefs, namely, $176,555.89. Respondent contends that under petitioner’s evidence it has not established any constructive average base period net income at all.

When this case was called after being set on the Galveston Calendar, petitioner was granted motions to file amendments to its petitions. It attached Forms 991 entitled “Amended Applications for Relief.” On these documents the petitioner wishes to increase its claim for constructive average base period net income from $176,555.89 to $482,672.50, due to an alleged increase in the constructive base period normal net income of the Lamar Hotel. Petitioner claimed for the first time that this increase should be allowed because the profit cycle of the hotel industry, to which industry the Lamar Hotel belonged, was substantially different in length and amplitude from the profits cycle of general business. These facts were not presented early enough to be acted upon by the Commissioner. This would be contrary to the principle underlying our holding in Blum Folding Paper Box Co., 4 T. C. 795. In the Blum Folding Paper Box Co. case we said:

Tbe scheme of the statute is that applications for relief under section 722 are to be presented in full to the Commissioner, who handles them administratively and passes upon them in the first instance in an effort to settle them without suit. This means that the applications must set forth not only the grounds for relief, but also a statement of the facts which the Commissioner is to consider in support of the reasons given. Additions are made by amendments before the claim is acted upon by the Commissioner. The Tax Court merely reviews his final determination. See sec. 732 (a), I. R. C. The taxpayer may not, as here, file a superficial claim, leaving the Commissioner in ignorance of the possible factual support for the claim, and then, after the resulting disallowance, come forward for the first time with the supporting statement of facts. That information is not a part of the application and consideration of it is beyond the scope of review by the Tax Court. [Emphasis added.]

Furthermore, in its brief and reply brief, petitioner appears to abandon the argument about the profit cycle of the hotel industry as covered by the amendments to its petitions. It now contends that the fair and just amount to be used as a constructive average base period net income for petitioner should be $176,555.89, the same as claimed in its original applications for relief and which would give an excess profits credit of $167,728.10. This proposed credit is smaller than the excess profits credits under the invested capital method computed on petitioner’s tax returns and determined by respondent:

Tear ended Credits on petitioner’s taw returns Credit determined by respondent
February 28, 1943__ $175,390.90 $169, 512. 88
February 29, 1944_ 179,204.45 173,003.02
February 28, 1945_ 177,680.86 171,662.36
March 1 to December 31,1945. 171,392. 23 172,352.72

As we have already pointed out, section 722 (c) provides that the tax “shall be considered to be excessive and discriminatory * * * if the excess profits credit based on invested capital is an inadequate standard for determining excess profits” due to one of three statutory conditions.

What petitioner really is objecting to as we construe the argument contained in its brief, is not the inadequacy of the excess profits credit under the invested capital method, but the statutory treatment of interest. Section 711 (a) (2) (B) provides that under the invested capital method the deduction for interest shall be reduced by 50 per cent of certain interest payments in computing excess profits net income.3

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Block One Thirty-Nine, Inc. v. Commissioner
17 T.C. 1364 (U.S. Tax Court, 1952)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
17 T.C. 1364, 1952 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 269, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/block-one-thirty-nine-inc-v-commissioner-tax-1952.