Carnill v. Lederer

24 F.2d 447, 6 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 7320, 1927 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1721, 6 A.F.T.R. (RIA) 7320
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 15, 1927
DocketNo. 7396
StatusPublished

This text of 24 F.2d 447 (Carnill v. Lederer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carnill v. Lederer, 24 F.2d 447, 6 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 7320, 1927 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1721, 6 A.F.T.R. (RIA) 7320 (E.D. Pa. 1927).

Opinion

THOMPSON, District Judge.

The plaintiff brought this action against the defendant, as collector of internal revenue, to ■recover sums paid by him under protest as additional income taxes, with interest upon a gain or profit realized by him upon the sale of stock in the Hill Oil Company. The plaintiff had acquired the stock prior to March 1, 1913. In June, 1916, he sold the stock for $6,060,000. In his income tax return it was set forth that the value of the stock, as of March 1, 1913, was $5,050,000, and the profit upon the sale $1,010,000. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue fixed the fair market value of the stock as of March 1, 1913, at $430,765, and levied and assessed against the plaintiff an additional tax of $709,408.02, with interest. The plaintiff paid the amount under protest and filed a claim for abatement. The claim was allowed in the sum of $26,739.75, and the additional assessment was thereby reduced to the sum of $682,668.67, together with $75,093.51 interest upon the additional tax from the time when demand was made for payment of the taxes originally assessed until the date of payment, December 27, 1919. Further abatement being denied, after application for refunding of the tax and interest, the plaintiff brought this suit for recovery of the entire amount of the taxes and interest paid under protest, setting up that the value the plaintiff had fixed as the value of the stock as of March 1, 1913, was the true value.

He further claimed that, interest having been calculated at the rate of 1 per cent, per month pending action upon the claim for abatement, the plaintiff was entitled to a refund of one-half of 1 per cent, per month, upon the ground that the claim was made in good faith under the provisions of the Revenue Act of February 24, 1919 (40 Stat. 1057).

Upon the trial, two issues were submitted to the jury for determination in the nature of a special verdict. These issues and the answers thereto were as follows:

“(1) What was the fair market price or value on March 1,1913, of the 50% per cent, of the capital stock of the Hill Oil & Gas Company owned by William Camill?”
Answer: “$430,765.”
“(2) Was the claim of William Camill for abatement of the income taxes assessed against him a bona fide claim; that is to say, was the claim made in good faith?”
Answer: “Yes.”

The jury having found the value on March 1, 1913, in the same amount as that fixed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the defendant moved for judgment upon the' verdict. Upon that motion, the only question for decision is whether the provisions of the Revenue Act of February 24, 1919, control in the matter of recovery of interest on taxes assessed under the act of 1916. Section 9 (a) of the aet of 1916 (Comp. St. § 6336i) provides:

“That all assessments shall be made by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and all persons shall be notified of the amount for which they are respectively liable on or before the first day of June of each successive year, and said amounts shall be paid on or before the fifteenth day of June, except in cases of refusal or neglect to make such return and in eases of erroneous, false, or fraudulent returns, in which cases the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall, upon the discovery thereof, at any time within three years after said return is due, or has been made, make a return upon information ob[448]*448tained as provided for in this title or hy existing law, or require the necessary corrections to be made, and the assessment made by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue thereon shall he paid by such person or persons immediately upon notification of the amount of such assessment; and to any sum or sums due and unpaid after the fifteenth day of June in any year, and for ten days after notice and demand thereof by the collector, there shall be added the sum of five per centum on the amount of tax unpaid, and interest at the rate of one per centum per month upon said tax from the time the same became due, except from the estates of insane, deceased, or insolvent persons.”

Section 22 of the same act (Comp. St. § 6336u) provides:

“That all administrative, special, and general provisions of law, including the laws in relation to the assessment, remission, collection, and refund of internal revenue taxes not heretofore specifically repealed and not inconsistent with the provisions of this title, are hereby extended and made applicable to all the provisions of this title and to the tax herein imposed.”

At the date of the passage of the act of 1916, section 3184, R. S. (26 USCA § 104; Comp. St. § 5906), was in force and effect, and provides as follows:

“Where it is not otherwise provided, the collector shall in person or by deputy, within ten days after receiving any list of taxes from the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, give notice to each person liable to pay any taxes stated therein, to be left at his dwelling or usual place of business, or to be sent by mail, stating the amount of such taxes and demanding payment thereof. If such person does not pay the taxes, within ten days after the service or the sending by mail of such notice, it shall be the duty of the collector or his deputy to collect the said taxes with a penalty of five per centum additional upon the amount of taxes, and interest at the rate of one per centum a month.”

If the above-cited statutes are controlling, the Commissioner rightfully required the payment of interest at the rate of 1 per cent, per month upon the income taxes paid under protest by the plaintiff. The plaintiff contends, however, that, inasmuch as the jury has found that the claim of the plaintiff for abatement of the income taxes assessed against him was a bona fide claim, and in view of the fact that its claim for abatement was made'on January 9, 1919, and the taxes demanded paid on December 27,1919, interest was recoverable only at the rate of one-half of 1 per cent, per month. This contention of the'plaintiff is based upon the provisions of the Revenue Act of February 24, 1919, commonly known as “the act of 1918.”

Section 250 (e) of the act (Comp. St. § 6336%tt) is as follows:

“If any tax remains unpaid after the date when it is due, and for ten days after notice and demand by the collector, then, except in the case of estates of insane, deceased, or insolvent persons, there shall be added as part of the tax the sum of 5 per centum on the amount due but unpaid, plus interest at the rate of 1 per centum per month upon such amount from the time it became due: Provided, that as to any such amount which is the subject of a bona fide claim for abatement such sum of 5 per centum shall not be added and the interest from the time the amount was due until the claim is decided shall be at the rate of one-half of 1 per centum per month.”

It is under the proviso of the above-cited section that the plaintiff seeks now to have judgment entered in its favor for all of the interest collected in excess of one-half of 1 per cent, per month. The question to be determined then is whether that proviso applies to taxes assessed under the act of 1916, and therefore controls the rate of interest chargeable upon the taxes assessed in the instant case. By section 1400 (a) of title 14 of the Revenue Act of 1918 (Comp. St. § 6371%a), title 1 (called “Income Tax”) of the Revenue Act of 1916, inter alia, is repealed.

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Bluebook (online)
24 F.2d 447, 6 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 7320, 1927 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1721, 6 A.F.T.R. (RIA) 7320, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carnill-v-lederer-paed-1927.