Collins v. United States

156 Ct. Cl. 658
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedMarch 7, 1962
DocketNo. 477-56
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 156 Ct. Cl. 658 (Collins 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.

Bluebook
Collins v. United States, 156 Ct. Cl. 658 (cc 1962).

Opinion

Per 'Curiam:

This is a suit for the recovery of income taxes deducted for the years 1951 through 1954 from the salaries of plaintiffs, husband and wife, who are citizens of the United States and were employed by various agencies of the United States Government while residing in the Ke-public of Panama in 1951 and 1952 and the Canal Zone in 1953 and 1954. The question involved is whether Section 251 (j) of the Internal Pevenue Code of 1939, 26 U.S.C. § 251 (1952 Ed.), and the comparable Section 931 (i) of the Internal Eevenue Code of 1954, 26 U.S.C. § 931 (1958 Ed.), contravene the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, because they deny employees of the United States or its agencies an exemption from Federal income taxes when employed in possessions of the United States, by providing that income of Federal employees shall “be deemed to be derived from sources within the United States.” Plaintiffs were employed by agencies of the United States located in an area within the legislative power of the United States. Therefore, the income was “derived from sources within the United States” and we hold it within the [660]*660taxing power of the Congress. Plaintiffs are therefore not entitled to recover and their petition, as amended, will be dismissed.

It is so ordered.

FINDINGS OF FACT

The court, having considered the evidence, the report of Trial Commissioner Wilson Cowen, and the briefs and argument of counsel, makes findings of fact as follows:

1. Plaintiffs are husband and wife, citizens of the United States. During the years 1953 and 1954, they were residents of the Canal Zone. During the years 1951 and 1952, they did not reside in the Canal Zone but resided in the Republic of Panama.

2. Plaintiffs filed joint Federal income tax returns (Form 1040) for each of the taxable years 1951 to 1954 inclusive.

3. The following schedule shows their tax liability per return, payments made by withholding or otherwise, and refunds heretofore allowed for each of the taxable years 1951 to 1954 inclusive:

4.Plaintiffs filed claims for refunds (Form 843) for each of the taxable years 1951 to 1954 inclusive, on the dates and for the amounts as follows:

5.In their claims for refund, plaintiffs alleged that Section 251 (j) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939 (or Section [661]*661931 (j) of the 1954 Code) violates the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution and is beyond the taxing power of the Congress for the following reasons stated in the claims:

a. Taxations without representation — U.S. citizens working in the Canal Zone have no right of representation in Congress;
b. Discriminatory — because other U.S. citizens living and employed in the Canal Zone are not taxed and U.S. citizens employed by the U.S. Government in other Territories and Possessions receive tax free cost-of-living differential while U.S. employees working for the Panama Canal Company and Canal Zone Government in the Zone are taxed on their differential, such classification and treatment is arbitrary;
c. Non-vmiformity of "benefits — The Canal Zone receives no grant in aid benefits such as are extended to the States, Territories and Possessions;
d. Presumption contrary to fact. — Sec. 220 of the Revenue Act of 1950 states a presumption contrary to fact. Since July 1, 1951, employees of the Panama Canal Company and Canal Zone Government have been paid by the Panama Canal Company from funds collected in the Canal Zone. A presumption cannot be made a basis for taxation. It is obvious that Panama Canal Company/Canal Zone Government employees are paid from a source without the United States and a legislative fiat to the contrary is not valid. This statement applies only to employees of the Panama Canal Company and Canal Zone Government and not to such of the claimants who are paid by direct appropriation;
e. The Federal Government has no power to tax citizens beyond its borders for income received and expended there. — Violation of Treaty Obligations — Sec. 214 of the Revenue Act of 1950 provides that no amendment made by the Act of 1950 shall apply in any case where its application would be contrary to any Treaty Obligation of the United States. This tax is contrary to the policy of the Treaty between the United States and the Republic of Panama, July 27,1939.

6. None of the claims for refund has ever been formally disallowed by registered mail by either the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate. More than six months elapsed between the filing of each of the claims and the petition herein.

7. Plaintiffs, during the taxable years 1951 to 1954 inclusive, received income upon which they paid Federal income [662]*662tax, from the following employers in the locations and amounts shown:

8. The record contains no evidence that income earned by plaintiffs either from the U.S. Navy or the U.S. Army was derived from sources outside the United States.

9. The Panama Canal Company, a corporate agency of the United States, established by Public Law 841, 81st Congress, operates the Canal and its related business-type activities The stock in the company is held by the Secretary of the Army. The company operates the ship repair facilities, the docks, the steamship terminal facilities, the warehouses, the commissaries (retail stores), and the electric power system.

The Canal Zone Government, a separate entity, is charged with the functions of civil government, such as police and fire protection, schools, magistrate courts, and other similar activities.

The Governor of the Canal Zone is ex officio president of the Panama Canal Company. The company and the government are closely interrelated in purposes, organization, and operations, and the function of the two agencies in combination is the administration of the Panama Canal enterprise as a whole.

In addition to the Panama Canal Company and the Canal Zone Government, the headquarters of the Caribbean Command of the United States Army, of the 15th Naval District, and of the Caribbean Air Command, are located in the Canal Zone. To some extent, these military forces support the Canal Zone Government in that they may, under the direction of the Canal Zone Governor, be called out to provide military protection in case of riots and civil disorders. [663]*663There is also a United States District Court for the district of the Canal Zone. It is staffed in part by the Department of Justice and operates under the general supervision of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

10. The Canal Zone is an area approximately 10 miles wide, 5 miles on each side of the center line of the waterway, extending from deep water in the Atlantic Ocean to deep water in the Pacific Ocean, excepting the city of Panama on the Pacific side and Colon on the Atlantic side which are adjacent to the Canal Zone terminal communities of Balboa and Cristobal respectively.

11. The basic rights and obligations between the United States and the Republic of Panama are for the most part contained in the Convention of 1903 and the Treaties of 1936 and 1955.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Maestre v. Commissioner
73 T.C. 337 (U.S. Tax Court, 1979)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
156 Ct. Cl. 658, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/collins-v-united-states-cc-1962.