Cohan v. United States

198 F. Supp. 591, 8 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6133, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5671
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedAugust 18, 1961
DocketCiv. A. 19649, 20104
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 198 F. Supp. 591 (Cohan v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cohan v. United States, 198 F. Supp. 591, 8 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6133, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5671 (E.D. Mich. 1961).

Opinion

FEIKENS, District Judge.

In these two cases plaintiff, a member of the Detroit Yacht Club, seeks to recover certain excise taxes on club charges from the government. By reason of stipulation filed by the parties hereto, the Court finds the following facts:

Findings of Fact

1. The Detroit Yacht Club was incorporated in 1895 under the laws of the State of Michigan as a nonprofit corporation. The purposes of the Club as shown in its Articles of Incorporation are:

“The purposes and object of this association is to engage in yachting, boating, and other kindred sports for pleasure and exercise, and to promote and foster these objects.”

Conduct and operation of the Club are subject to its By-laws. The Club is a social organization within the meaning of Section 501(c), Internal Revenue Code of 1954, 26 U.S.C.A. § 501(c), and, therefore, is exempt from Federal income tax.

*593 2. During the years 1955 through 1959 there were the following number of members in each of the indicated classes:

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3. The plaintiff, William D. Cohan, is a citizen of The United States, residing in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. The plaintiff is, and has been, an Active Member of the Detroit Yacht Club at all times material to this proceeding.

4. During the period 1955 through October 1, 1957, the dues of Active Members of the Club were $150 per annum. Effective as of October 1, 1957, the dues of Active Members of the Club were increased to $175 and remained at this amount during the balance of the period involved herein.

5. The Detroit Yacht Club sponsors regular social and sporting events for its members. It has dancing three or four nights weekly, movies twice a week, and periodically throughout the year special occasion parties, dinners, and dances are held. Each year it sponsors the Silver Cup Race on the Detroit River for unlimited class high speed powerboats. Participation in the latter event is not limited to Club members. There is also a regular schedule of sporting events during the year for members, including intra-club and inter-club sailboat races, a bowling league, and a swimming team for children of members, which competes against teams from other clubs.

With the exception of special occasion parties, the Club makes no charge to members for participation in these events, as the annual dues paid by a member give him that right.

There are various social groups within the Club, some of which make a charge to participants in the group. However, these charges are not made by the Club or collected by it.

6. The physical plant of the Club consists of the following:

(a) A three-story clubhouse containing five dining rooms, a ballroom, several lounges, two bars, three private party rooms, two kitchens, several washrooms and toilet facilities, administration offices, a barber shop, a masseur room, a clothes pressing shop, a manager’s apartment, a pistol range, two squash courts, a swimming pool, numerous storage rooms, a men’s locker room and women’s locker room.

(b) Fifteen to twenty small sailboats.

(e) Mooring services and wells for members’ boats.

(d) Playground equipment for use of members’ children.

(e) A parking lot.

An active member is entitled, without additional charge, fee or rental payment, to the use of all of the above-described physical accommodations, facilities and equipment. However, where a Club member desires to retain on a seasonal basis a specific locker or boatwell, he is required to pay the Club an additional charge and in order to use the club-owned sailboats, a member must obtain a “Skipper’s Card” for which there is an additional charge. A member receives the magazine “Main Sheet” upon his *594 payment of the annual subscription charge.

7. An Active Member of the Club has available the following services:

(a) Meals and beverages.

(b) A harbormaster and crew.

(c) Storage space for sailboat masts and other spars in an open area in the locker room or in an open yard area at one end of the Club island.

(d) A barber and a masseur.

(e) Valet services.

(f) Catering services for private parties and social activities.

(g) The use of the Club’s sailboats (provided the member secures a Skipper’s Card as hereinafter explained).

8. The men’s locker room is located on the first floor of the main clubhouse. It is a distance of about 100 feet from the nearest boatwell and about 750 feet from the farthest boatwell. The indoor swimming pool is located one-half floor above the men’s locker room.

9. During the years involved, the men’s locker room contained the following number and types of individual metal storage lockers:

10. Twenty-nine of the men’s A-type lockers are not leased by the Club and are kept available at all times during the year for use of members or guests without charge. The remaining lockers were rented by the Club to members at the following rates:

11. During the years involved, the women’s locker room contained the following number and types of individual metal storage lockers and baskets:

12. Twenty-four of the women’s B-type lockers and 88 of the baskets are not leased and were available at all times during the year for use of members, members’ wives, or guests without charge. The remaining lockers and baskets were rented by the Club to members, or their wives, at the following rates:

*595 13. During 1956, 1957, and 1958, plaintiff rented an A-type locker, in the men’s locker room, for which he paid $9 per year; during 1959 a B-type locker was rented for which he paid $15 per year. During 1958 and 1959 plaintiff also rented one ladies’ B-type locker for his wife and paid a rental of $6 per year.

A member who rents a locker on an annual basis receives his personal key to that locker. A member who uses one of the lockers kept available for the general membership does not receive a key.

14. The Detroit Yacht Club maintains a number of boat docks abutting the island on which it is located; space for 203 power boats and 75 sailboats is available. The June, 1959 issue of the magazine “Main Sheet” shows that among the Club members 81 owned sailing boats and 345 owned power boats at that time.

A member who wishes to use a specific boatwell on a seasonal basis must pay the required charge to the Club. One who rents a specific boatwell is also entitled to the exclusive use of a storage shed which is located on the dock at the foot of the boatwell.

If a rented well is vacant, a Club member may use it on a temporary basis. Under the Club’s By-laws, permission to use wells must be obtained from the Dock Committee or from the manager. The Dock Committee has delegated to the harbormaster the discretion to assign boats on a temporary basis to vacant rented wells.

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Bluebook (online)
198 F. Supp. 591, 8 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6133, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5671, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cohan-v-united-states-mied-1961.