Chilton T.C. Au v. United States

4 Cl. Ct. 441, 53 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 999, 1984 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1478
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedFebruary 28, 1984
DocketNo. 23-82T
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 4 Cl. Ct. 441 (Chilton T.C. Au v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Chilton T.C. Au v. United States, 4 Cl. Ct. 441, 53 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 999, 1984 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1478 (cc 1984).

Opinion

OPINION

MARGOLIS, Judge.

This case is before the Court on cross motions for summary judgment. Plaintiff, Chilton T.C. Au, acting pro se, brings this tax refund suit seeking a determination that the $90,000 loss he sustained when he sold certain real estate was an ordinary loss, not a capital loss. Plaintiff seeks a refund for the 1975 tax year of $2,099 plus interest.1 Plaintiff claims he is entitled to loss [442]*442carryback and carryover deductions for the 1975 operating loss which will result if the loss can be treated as an ordinary loss. Plaintiff has moved for summary judgment claiming that under Internal Revenue Code section 12372 the real estate cannot be a capital asset because plaintiff held it for less than five years and because plaintiff purchased another parcel of real estate during that time. Therefore, plaintiff contends he should be allowed ordinary loss treatment.

Defendant opposes plaintiff’s motion contending that section 1237 is not applicable to this case. Defendant has cross moved for summary judgment alleging that plaintiff did not hold his property primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business. Therefore, defendant contends the real estate was a capital asset, and plaintiff’s loss from its sale was a capital loss. This Court finds for the defendant.

FACTS

Both parties agree that the facts are not in dispute and that the matter is ripe for summary judgment. During the period involved plaintiff resided in Hawaii where he was an assistant manager and operator of a restaurant. On September 17, 1973, plaintiff purchased some fourteen acres of commercially zoned real estate in Anchorage, Alaska, known as “the Vance Phillips’ Property” (the property). Plaintiff contends that he acquired the property to develop a shopping center. From the purchase in September 1973 to the sale on June 24, 1975, no physical improvements were made on the property.

The terms of purchase for the property were $1,200,000, with a down payment of $150,000, leaving a balance due by note of trust of $1,050,000. In addition, plaintiff paid a $90,000 real estate broker’s commission to Mr. Takeshi Oie, plaintiff’s realtor.

After receiving two extensions, plaintiff was unable to make payment under the note of trust and was forced to sell the property. The purchaser of the property agreed to pay plaintiff his total cost of acquiring the property. Plaintiff, however, mistakenly omitted from the sales agreement the $90,000 commission which he had paid on acquisition. Plaintiff, therefore, sold the property for $90,000 less than what he had paid for it.

Plaintiff reported his loss as a capital loss in the adjusted amount of $85,318 on his 1975 Individual Income Tax Return. Plaintiff timely filed an amended return claiming his loss as an ordinary loss. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) determined that plaintiff suffered a capital loss, not an ordinary loss, and disallowed the deduction.

DISCUSSION

The determination of the IRS is presumed to be correct, and plaintiff has the burden of proving it to be wrong. Welch v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 111, 115, 54 S.Ct. 8, 9, 78 L.Ed. 212 (1933); Jupiter Corporation v. United States, 2 Cl.Ct. 58, 61 (1983) (Lydon, J.).

Defendant is correct in asserting that section 1237 is not applicable to this case. That section applies only to the gain, not loss, realized from the sale of real estate that has been subdivided and sold in lots. No such situation is presented here.

The question of whether the sale of real estate generates a capital or an ordinary gain or loss is “old, familiar, recurring, vexing and oft-times elusive....” Huey v. United States, 205 Ct.Cl. 557, 564, 504 F.2d 1388, 1391 (1974) quoting Thompson v. Commissioner, 322 F.2d 122, 123 (5th Cir.1963). The statutory test is whether the real property sold by plaintiff was held “primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of his trade or business.” 26 U.S.C. § 1221(1). If so, plaintiff’s loss is an ordi[443]*443nary loss and fully deductible from ordinary income. 26 U.S.C. § 165(a), (c). If not, plaintiff’s loss is a capital loss with limited deductibility under section 1211.

As the predecessor Court of Claims stated in Crosswhite v. United States:

The statutory scheme of Section 1221 contemplates a distinction between appreciation in the value of property which accrues with the passage of time and profits and losses which arise from the regular conduct of a business venture.

177 Ct.Cl. 671, 673, 369 F.2d 989, 991 (1966). “[T]he definition of a capital asset must be narrowly applied and its exclusions interpreted broadly.” Id. at 672-73, 369 F.2d at 991, quoting Corn Products Refining Co. v. Commissioner, 350 U.S. 46, 52, 76 S.Ct. 20, 24, 100 L.Ed. 29 (1955).

There is no mechanical test for determining whether a piece of real property was held by the taxpayer primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of his trade or business. A case-by-case determination is necessary. Huey v. United States, 205 Ct.Cl. at 564, 504 F.2d at 1392; Goodman v. United States, 182 Ct.Cl. 662, 668, 390 F.2d 915, 919 (1968), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 824, 89 S.Ct. 87, 21 L.Ed.2d 96 (1968). However, several decisions have set forth factors to be considered in making this determination. These factors include: the purpose for which the land was acquired, the motive for selling, the extent of improvements made to facilitate sales, the frequency and continuity of sales, the method employed in selling, income from sales as compared to the taxpayer’s other income, and the time and effort expended by the taxpayer in promoting sales. Huey v. United States, 205 Ct.Cl. at 564, 504 F.2d at 1392; Miller v. United States, 168 Ct.Cl. 498, 504, 339 F.2d 661, 663-64 (1964); Lazarus v. United States, 145 Ct.Cl. 541, 545-551, 172 F.Supp. 421, 424-427 (1959). No one factor is conclusive. Crosswhite v. United States, 177 Ct.Cl. at 675, 369 F.2d at 992.

Applying these factors to the record in this case, it is plain to this Court that plaintiff did not hold the property primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business of buying and selling real estate. Plaintiff has stated two contradictory purposes for acquiring the property. First, in his answers to defendant’s interrogatories, plaintiff stated that he purchased the property to develop a shopping center.

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4 Cl. Ct. 441, 53 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 999, 1984 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1478, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chilton-tc-au-v-united-states-cc-1984.