Combs v. United States

490 F. Supp. 22, 45 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 332, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14239
District Court, E.D. Kentucky·Decided November 21, 1978·No. Civ. No. 74-61·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

MOYNAHAN, Chief Judge.

This action in which the plaintiff seeks a refund of income taxes paid for the calendar year 1969, was commenced on July 30, 1974, with a demand for trial by jury. The only issue presented at the trial related to the plaintiff’s involvement with VS A, Inc. and Mid-America Investments, Inc. [Paragraph 8(h) of the complaint] inasmuch as the remaining issues had been resolved between the parties.

The defendant’s motion for a directed verdict at the close of the plaintiff’s case was overruled. At the close of introduction of all evidence, counsel for the plaintiff moved for a directed verdict, which motion was overruled after the court heard counsel on said motion. The case was submitted to the jury on the collapsible corporation issue under 26 U.S.C. § 341, together with a special interrogatory; viz:

“INTERROGATORY TO THE JURY
At the time and place referred to in the evidence, to-wit, on-or prior to October 1, 1969, were the Vista Shores Apartments held by Mid-America Investments, Inc., primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business or would they have been held by either the Plaintiff, Leslie B. Combs, II or David M. Trapp, primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business, had the Plaintiff, Leslie B. Combs, II or David M. Trapp, held the legal title to said Vista Shores Apartments on or prior to said date of October 1, 1969?
(Answer Yes or No) _Yes_
Answer
November 17,1978 /s/ Wayne W. Woodward
Foreman of the Jury”

By answering this interrogatory “yes”, the jury rendered a verdict for the defendant.

On November 17, 1977, the plaintiff filed a motion for leave to file an amendment to his complaint whereby he would elect to compute the amount of taxes due pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 1301 et seq. and this motion was sustained by court order dated September 7, 1978.

The plaintiff herein additionally filed, on March 14, 1978, a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict pursuant to Rule [24]*2450(b), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure alleging that the jury’s verdict is erroneous as a matter of law and, alternatively, that the jury’s verdict is contrary to the only reasonable interpretation of the evidence. Both parties have briefed the issues presented by this motion.

The plaintiff’s first contention that the verdict is erroneous as a matter of law is not supported by the record or the subject statutes. The plaintiff argues that inasmuch as 26 U.S.C. § 341(e)(5)(A) requires the determination of whether the sale is to be treated as a sale of a capital asset or a Section 1231(b) asset to be made as if all the property of the corporation had been sold to one person in one transaction, it is impossible for the plaintiff, or David Trapp, to then be engaged in the sale of such property to customers in the ordinary course of trade or business. This provision establishes an “all-or-nothing” approach to the sale of Section 341 assets and prevents delineating gains based upon whether a particular asset is a “collapsible” or “non-collapsible” asset and does not direct itself to an analysis of the activities of the shareholders in a determination of whether they are engaged in a “trade or business.”

The standard of review in considering a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict is found in Philhall Corporation v. United States, 546 F.2d 210 at 214 (6th Cir. 1976).

In passing on a motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict the trial judge must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Perry v. Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad Co., 502 F.2d 1144 (6th Cir. 1974). Viewing the evidence in this light, the grant of a judgment n. o. v. was proper only if the evidence in the present case was such that a reasonable person could reach only one conclusion. Reeves v. Power Tools, Inc., 474 F.2d 375 (6th Cir. 1973).

Therefore, this Court must decide whether the evidence presented in the trial of this action precludes the finding by the jury.

There is no dispute that the provisions of Section 341 would apply to this transaction but for the exemptions provided in subsection (e). This subsection was enacted in 1958 to provide relief from the all encompassing nature of “Section 341 Assets” which was in effect converting what would be capital gains into ordinary income merely because the corporate form was used.1 Section 341(e)(5)(A) defines subsection (e) assets as

Property (except property used in the trade or business, as defined in paragraph (9)) which in the hands of the corporation is, or, in the hands of a shareholder who owns more than 20 percent in value of the outstanding stock of the corporation, would be, property gain from the sale or exchange of which would under any provision of this chapter be considered in whole or in part as ordinary income.

This read in conjunction with subsection (e)(1) provides an exclusion for the sale of stock from the provisions of Section 341 if the net unrealized appreciation in subsection (e) assets of the corporation does not exceed an amount equal to fifteen (15) percent of the net worth of the corporation. Therefore the tax on any gain on such a sale will be a capital gains tax rather than ordinary income tax.2 The question presented, then, is whether a sale of the subject real estate would have generated ordinary income in the hands of Mid-America Investments, Inc., the plaintiff, or David M. Trapp. To answer this question, it is necessary to determine whether any one of these entities was engaged in the sale of real estate to customers in the ordinary [25]*25course of trade or business.3 Although no evidence was introduced at trial from which the jury could have reasonably found that Mid-America Investments, Inc. or the plaintiff was engaged in the trade or business of dealing with real estate, there was evidence from which it could be inferred that. David Trapp was engaged in the sale of real estate to customers in the ordinary course of trade or business and that, therefore, the subject property if held by him individually, would have generated ordinary income. Inasmuch as the statute [Section 341(e)(5)(A)] is written to “taint” the property if any one shareholder owning more than twenty (20) percent of the corporation’s stock would be deemed to be in the trade or business of developing or selling real estate,4 it cannot be said that the jury’s verdict is contrary to the only reasonable interpretation of the evidence at trial.

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Combs v. United States, 490 F. Supp. 22, 45 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 332, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14239 (E.D. Ky. 1978).

490 F. Supp. 22 (Combs v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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655 F.2d 90 (Sixth Circuit, 1981)