Claremont Waste Mfg. Co. v. Commissioner

24 T.C. 1087, 1955 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 93
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedSeptember 27, 1955
DocketDocket No. 22747
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 24 T.C. 1087 (Claremont Waste Mfg. Co. 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
Claremont Waste Mfg. Co. v. Commissioner, 24 T.C. 1087, 1955 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 93 (tax 1955).

Opinion

OPINION.

Fisher, Judge:

Respondent determined a deficiency in petitioner’s income tax for 1941 in the amount of $585.26 and an overassessment of excess profits tax for that year in the amount of $1,887.99. Petitioner had filed both (1) a claim for refund of 1941 taxes based on a carry-back of an excess profits tax credit unused in 1942 and (2) an application for relief under section 722 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939. Respondent’s determination denied all of the former and part of the latter. The sole issue now remaining is whether petitioner’s claim for refund was timely filed within the provisions of section 322 (b) (6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939.

All of the facts were stipulated by the parties. They are found accordingly and incorporated herein by reference.

Petitioner is a New Hampshire corporation with its principal office located at Claremont, New Hampshire. Its returns for the taxable years involved were filed’with the then collector of internal revenue at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The returns were made for calendar years and on an accrual basis.

The petitioner filed excess profits tax returns for the years 1941, 1942, and 1943 on the respective dates, February 27, 1942, March 13, 1943, and February 29,1944. The excess profits tax shown to be due in the 1941 return, $10,386.29, was paid in four installments during 1942. On September 13, 1943, respondent mailed to petitioner a notice of deficiencies in income and excess profits taxes for 1941. The deficiencies resulted from certain adjustments not here in controversy.

On September 14, 1943, petitioner filed with the respondent an application for excess profits tax relief under section 722 for the year 1941. The application for relief was based principally on the introduction of a new type of machine and an alleged increase in the capacity for production and operation under section 722 (b) (4). No claim was made in the application for any unused excess profits credit carry-back from the year 1942.

On November 4,1943, petitioner filed a petition in the Tax Court, Docket No. 3361, based on the deficiency notice of September 13,1943, contesting the deficiency for 1941. It alleged certain errors not here material, and there was no allegation of error with respect to any carry-back of 1942 unused excess profits credit.

After a hearing, the Tax Court, on March 12, 1945, entered a Memorandum Opinion in that case. Thereafter the parties submitted Rule 50 recomputations which were identical with respect to petitioner’s income and excess profits tax liabilities for 1941, and on April 27,1945, the Tax Court entered a decision in accordance therewith for an overpayment in income tax for that year of $41, and a deficiency in excess profits tax of $819.78. The deficiency of $819.78, plus interest of $178.67, was paid or satisfied as follows: $795.41 paid April 15, 1946; $41 credited against_the 1941 income tax overpayment; and $162.04 credited against income tax overpayment for 1940.

For the year 1942 petitioner had an unused excess profits credit of $38,652.83 which it carried over, in its entirety, to the year 1943. No effect was given to any carry-back from 1942 to 1941 in either of the Rule 50 recomputations submitted to the Court in Docket No. 3361. Previously, however, a revenue agent had examined petitioner’s returns for 1941 and 1942 and a copy of his report dated February 14, 1944, had been transmitted to petitioner on July 17, 1944. In computing petitioner’s excess profits tax liability for 1941, the agent gave effect to a carry-back from 1942 of the unused excess profits credit of $38,652.83.

On February 3, 1945, the respondent executed an agreement, previously executed by the petitioner, extending the statute of limitations for 1941 to June 30, 1946. Thereafter similar agreements were executed extending the statute to June 30,1949.

On March 3,1947, petitioner filed a claim for refund for the entire amount of excess profits tax paid for 1941 based on the carry-back of the $38,652.83 (adjusted to $38,524.63 on the basis of holdings in the Tax Court Opinion, supra) of unused excess profits credit for 1942. Thereafter, on January 31,1949, respondent sent the petitioner a statutory notice (on which the instant proceeding is based) of an overassessment of $1,887.99 in excess profits tax for 1941. In this notice respondent allowed in part petitioner’s claim for relief under section 722 filed September 14,1943, insofar as it related to the use of constructive average base period net income of $85,756.36, but disallowed a carry-back of unused excess profits credit from 1942.

Petitioner filed the petition herein on April 27, 1949, alleging that the respondent erred (1) in disallowing in part petitioner’s claim for refund under section 722, and (2) in failing to carry back to 1941 the unused excess profits credit arising in 1942. Subsequently, the respondent filed a motion to dismiss the proceedings for lack of jurisdiction insofar as it related to the carry-back issue. After a hearing on the motion, this Court on February 19,1951, issued an order granting respondent’s motion upon the authority of Mutual Lumber Co., 16 T. C. 370 (1951).

Petitioner appealed the Tax Court’s order to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and on May 7, 1952, that court, upon consideration of respondent’s confession of error, vacated the Tax Court’s order and remanded the case for further proceedings. In this respect, see City Machine & Tool Co. v. Commissioner, (C. A. 6, 1952) 194 F. 2d 535, and City Machine & Tool Co., 21 T. C. 937, 948 (1954).

Thereafter, at the hearing held herein, petitioner waived the allegation of error with respect to the 722 claim, and submitted the remaining issue, pertaining to the carry-back of the 1942 unused excess profits credit. Respondent now contends that petitioner’s claim for refund based on the carry-back was not timely filed within the requirements of section 322 (b) (6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939. (He had previously amended his answer to so allege.) Since the parties now agree that petitioner is entitled to a refund in the amount of $1,887.99 as a result of respondent’s allowance under the provisions of section 722, the question of the carry-back is the only issue which remains for disposition.

At the outset it should be noted that petitioner’s income tax and excess profits tax liabilities for 1941 were once litigated before this Court and a decision in that case was entered on April 27,1945. This decision subsequently became final and, in the absence of certain exceptions not here material, unless the provisions of section 322 (g) are held to apply, petitioner is barred from any further relief by the provisions of section 322 (c) providing for the finality of Tax Court decisions insofar as credits and refunds are concerned. See Elbert v. Johnson, (C. A. 2, 1947) 164 F. 2d 421; Moir v. United States, (C. A. 1, 1945) 149 F. 2d 455; and Bear Mill Mfg. Co. v. United States, (S. D., N. Y., 1950) 93 F. Supp. 988. Section 322 (g) provides an exception to section 322 (c) with respect to overpayments attributable to certain carry-backs. Section 322 (g) provides as follows:

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Related

Brad Foote Gear Works, Inc. v. United States
288 F.2d 894 (Court of Claims, 1961)
Wilmington Gasoline Corp. v. Commissioner
27 T.C. 500 (U.S. Tax Court, 1956)
Claremont Waste Mfg. Co. v. Commissioner
24 T.C. 1087 (U.S. Tax Court, 1955)

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Bluebook (online)
24 T.C. 1087, 1955 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 93, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/claremont-waste-mfg-co-v-commissioner-tax-1955.