Canelo v. Commissioner

41 B.T.A. 713, 1940 BTA LEXIS 1147
CourtUnited States Board of Tax Appeals
DecidedApril 4, 1940
DocketDocket Nos. 66150, 90641.
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 41 B.T.A. 713 (Canelo v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Board of Tax Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Canelo v. Commissioner, 41 B.T.A. 713, 1940 BTA LEXIS 1147 (bta 1940).

Opinion

[721]*721OPINION.

Hakron:

1. The basic question for determination is one of fact and is whether or not petitioner received income in the taxable years which he failed to report, and, thereby, filed false and fraudulent income tax returns for each of the taxable years with intent to evade tax. If petitioner filed false and fradulent returns for each of the years 1925 to 1928, inclusive, with intent to evade tax, the assessment and collection of the deficiencies and penalties for those years are not barred by the statute of limitations, and it will not be necessary to pass upon respondent’s alternative contention that the deficiency notice for the years 1927 and 1928 was mailed within the statutory period as extended by Joint Resolution of Congress approved June 16,1930, 46 Stat. 589, section 1009 of the Revenue Acts of 1924 and 1926, and section 276 of the Revenue Act of 1928. Summerill Tubing Co., 36 B. T. A. 347. Petitioner has waived the defense of the statute of limitations with respect to the year 1929. Moreover, if petitioner filed false or fraudulent returns for each of the taxable years with intent to evade tax, the further question of whether part of the deficiency for each of the taxable years is due to fraud with intent to evade tax is in large part answered. Cf. Summerill Tubing Co., supra.

In support of his allegations that the income tax returns of petitioner for the taxable years were false and fraudulent with intent to evade tax, respondent introduced in evidence the sheets of the stock trading accounts of petitioner with the two brokerage firms, which, upon their face, do not show the existence of a trust. Respondent contends that the income from securities, consisting of dividends and gains from sales, was petitioner’s income in the taxable years, and that petitioner’s failure to report as his income all of such gains and dividends was an omission committed with intent to evade tax thereon. Respondent contends that the filing of a fiduciary return for the “Harry F. Canelo Trust” and the allocation of income to the alleged beneficiaries of that alleged trust was not justified by facts, and represented a device to evade taxation.

Petitioner maintains that the income from the sale of securities in his accounts and from dividends on securities in his accounts belonged either to a trust, or to a partnership or joint venture, in [722]*722which he had a one-fifth interest in the years 1925, 1926, and 1927, and a one-tenth interest in the years 1928 and 1929, and that in his individual returns for each of the taxable years, petitioner correctly reported his entire interest in the income of the trust, or the partnership or joint venture.

A clear and understandable statement of petitioner’s theory as to how the alleged trust, or the alleged partnership or joint venture, was created is not to be found, either in the record or in petitioner’s briefs. All the testimony on this subject was given by petitioner, and there are wide gaps in his testimony. With respect to the creation of the alleged trust, or the alleged partnership or joint venture, petitioner testified that on or about June 11, 1925, a conference was held, which was attended by Addie Kelly Canelo, Adolph B. Canelo, Jr., C. Kelly Canelo, Mildred Hadley Canelo, and petitioner; that petitioner declared at the conference that he was going to give $2,000 each to Addie Kelly Canelo, C: Kelly Canelo, Mildred Hadley Canelo, and Louise Mercedes Canelo; that it was agreed at the conference that petitioner was to use the amounts, which he declared he was going to give to the individuals named above, to open a margin trading account in which petitioner was to purchase and sell securities; that subsequent to the conference petitioner borrowed $10,000 on his own note from the First National Bank of San Jose; and that with the amount borrowed petitioner opened the original margin trading account in his own name on June 12, 1925. It should be pointed out that petitioner’s testimony on this subject has not been supplemented or substantiated by the testimony of any of the other members of the Canelo family allegedly present at the “conference” held on or about June 11, 1925. Cf. James L. Robertson, 20 B. T. A. 112.

Petitioner’s theory that the income realized during the taxable years from the operations in petitioner’s brokerage accounts belonged to either a partnership or a joint venture is wholly without foundation. One of the fundamental requisites of both a partnership and a joint venture is that each of the members thereof must contribute either property or services. Chase S. Osborn, 22 B. T. A. 935. See Abraham Sultan, 22 B. T. A. 889; Harry C. Fisher, 29 B. T. A. 1041. There is no evidence that any of the alleged copartners or joint ven-turers, other than petitioner, contributed any property which was used in the operation of the brokerage accounts. At the time when petitioner declared that he was giving $2,000 to each of the four members of the Canelo family named above, petitioner had not borrowed the funds with which he opened the original brokerage account; and between the time when petitioner made the declaration and the time when he opened the account he did not deliver any money to any of the four members of the Canelo family. An irrev[723]*723ocable transfer by tlie donor to the donee is an essential requisite of a valid gift Ínter vivos. See Adolph Weil, 31 B. T. A. 899, 906; Civil Code of California, sec. 1147. It is, therefore, clear that petitioner did not make a valid gift inter vivos of any of the funds used by him to open the original brokerage account. In addition to contributing all the property used in the operation of the brokerage accounts, petitioner alone, of the alleged copartners or joint venturers, contributed services. Since all the property and services used in the operation of the accounts were contributed by petitioner, it follows that there was neither a partnership nor a joint venture.

Petitioner’s theory that the income, realized during the taxable years from the operations in petitioner’s brokerage accounts, belonged to a trust is also without merit. Petitioner contends that the alleged trust was created orally. It should be pointed out that the fact that an oral trust was created must be established by clear and convincing evidence. Austin v. Wilcoxson, 149 Cal. 24; 84 Pac. 417; First Union Trust & Savings Bank v. United States, 5 Fed. Supp. 143; Cooper v. United States, 19 Fed. Supp. 752; Wigmore on Evidence, 2d ed., sec. 2498. There is no evidence here to support a finding that’ a valid oral trust was created. The declaration which petitioner allegedly made to the effect that he was giving $2,000 each to four members of the Canelo family would not constitute a declartion of trust, because petitioner at the time when he made the alleged declaration had not borrowed the funds with which he opened the original brokerage account. At most the alleged declaration would constitute a mere gratuitous promise to create a trust in the future. See Brainard v. Commissioner, 91 Fed. (2d) 880; Noble v. Learned, 153 Cal. 245; 94 Pac. 1047.

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Canelo v. Commissioner
41 B.T.A. 713 (Board of Tax Appeals, 1940)

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Bluebook (online)
41 B.T.A. 713, 1940 BTA LEXIS 1147, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/canelo-v-commissioner-bta-1940.