Cox v. Commissioner

31 B.T.A. 819, 1934 BTA LEXIS 1031
CourtUnited States Board of Tax Appeals
DecidedNovember 30, 1934
DocketDocket No. 69698.
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 31 B.T.A. 819 (Cox v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Board of Tax Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cox v. Commissioner, 31 B.T.A. 819, 1934 BTA LEXIS 1031 (bta 1934).

Opinion

OPINION.

Goodrich:

Petitioners, who are husband and wife and filed a joint return, assail respondent’s determination of a deficiency in income tax of $16,614.70, for the year 1930. Since the items here in dispute apparently relate only to the income of Carrie G. Cox, hereinafter we will speak of her as the petitioner, without further reference to Attilla Cox.

The controversy concerns two problems: First, what is the proper basis for computation of gain or loss upon sales of stocks made by petitioner in 1930? and, second, should there be included in petitioner’s income for 1930, the income received by an estate of which petitioner was the residuary legatee?

There is no dispute as to the facts. The parties, by counsel, submitted a stipulation, augumented by a deposition and some documentary evidence. The facts material to an understanding of the issues we summarize:

Petitioner, a resident of Louisville, Kentucky, is a daughter of Hattie R. Gaulbert who died, a resident of Louisville, on December 30, 1929, leaving a will which named petitioner residuary legatee. The Gaulbert estate was valued at $1,615,976.59. Specific bequests totaled $137,500; debts of the decedent, $826.56. All of these items were paid in full on or before April 4, 1930. The only claims against the estate remaining unpaid after that date were the several [820]*820tax liabilities — income tax of the decedent, the Federal estate tax, the estate inheritance tax and local property taxes — which totaled $120,702.97 and were not then due and payable.

For quite a time prior to decedent’s death, the Fidelity & Columbia Trust Co. had acted as her agent in the management of her properties. Thereafter it qualified and acted as executor under her will. Upon the death of her mother, petitioner appointed the trust company as her own agent, and instructed it to take possession of her inheritance and continue to manage it for her in the same manner as the company had acted for her mother. The trust company accepted the ajop ointment and has since acted in that capacity. Both for the Gaulbert estate and for petitioner it carried on its books three accounts, designated respectively “ income ”, “ investment ”, and “ principal.”

Included in the residuary estate going to petitioner were 227 shares .of the. stock of Louisville & Nashville Railway Co. (hereinafter called L. &-N.) and 3,380 shares of stock of the Banco Kentucky Corporation. On April 4, 1930, the former had a market value of $138 a share, and the latter a market value of $24 a share. Both stocks were issued in the name of the trust company and were in its custody.

On October 16, 1930, the trust company, by appropriate entries on its records, transferred 200 shares of the L. & N. stock to the account of . petitioner. On October 29, 1930, petitioner (acting through her agent, the trust company) sold these shares for $21,942. On November 4, 1930, a certificate for 27 shares of L. & N. stock was forwarded to that company for reissue in the petitioner’s name, and on December 10, 1930, she sold these shares for $2,612.52. The market value of the L. & N. stock was $110 a share on October 6,1930.

On November 19, 1930, the certificate representing the Banco Kentucky stock was forwarded to that company for reissue in petitioner’s name. On the same day she sold 530 shares of it for $449.19, and on November 21, 1930, she sold the remaining 2,850 shares for $1,333.80. The market value of the Banco Kentucky stock on October 6, 1930, was $15,375 a share. The company was taken over by a receiver on November 24, 1930.

Upon the death of Hattie Gaulbert, or immediately thereafter, the trust company, as executor, received in cash, as a part of her estate, $52,833. During 1930, it received as income of the estate, including dividends of $676 upon Banco Kentucky stock paid October 2, a total of $52,380.44 (less certain expenses). The cash in its hands during the year, therefore, totaled $105,213.44. The demands upon the estate for which the executor needed cash — the debts, tax liabilities, specific bequests and administration expenses — totaled $182,-758.41 (after partial payment of a specific bequest by the delivery of [821]*821securities to the value of $99,825.08). The excess of the cash demands over the cash available was, therefore, $77,544.97, which had to be met through sales of securities. During 1930, the executor sold securities of an aggregate par value in excess of $150,000, crediting the proceeds to the various estate accounts.

Petitioner directed the executor to hold the income of the estate to meet the tax liabilities or other cash demands. However, upon her order the executor paid out during the year items totaling $8,350, which were charged against income account and which apparently discharged certain of petitioner’s personal commitments. The demands against the estate were all discharged by the end of the year,1 and on December 31,1930, the trust company, by appropriate entries, closed its book accounts for the Gaulbert estate, and transferred to petitioner’s account a cash balance of $17,132.51, “ in full settlement of all funds in the hands of the executor.”

Between October 16 and December 31, 1930, all the other assets in the accounts of the estate had been transferred to petitioner’s accounts. No final settlement or accounting was filed by the executor during 1930 in a local court of competent jurisdiction, nor did any such court confirm a settlement or enter a decree of distribution of the estate.

On her return for 1930, petitioner claimed a loss of $65,767.01 upon the sales of the Banco Kentucky stock, which respondent disallowed. She claimed also a loss of $4,676.81 upon the sales of the L. & N. stock, of which respondent allowed $1,318.86. The propriety of respondent’s action respecting these losses is the first issue for our decision.

Moreover, respondent has included in petitioner’s 1930 income $39,660.24 of the income of the Gaulbert estate in that year, regarding that amount as having been paid or credited to petitioner. The propriety of that action is the second issue in the case.

Whether losses were sustained by petitioner upon the sales of the stocks mentioned depends upon the basis used to determine gain or loss. That basis is prescribed by statute, and section 113 (a)(5), Revenue Act of 1928, is controlling. Under it the basis for determining gain or loss upon these sales is the fair market value of the stock “ at the time of distribution to the taxpayer.” Consequently, the primary inquiry here is, When were these stocks distributed to petitioner ?

[822]*822Respondent has determined that the L. & N. shares were distributed to petitioner on October 16, and November 4, 1930; that the Banco Kentucky shares were distributed on November 19, 1930. It is his view that the term “ distribution ” necessarily implies some definite action indicating a severance of the shares from the estate, and their transfer to the legatee’s ownership. Such action he finds in the elimination of the shares from the estate’s accounts on the executor’s books, coupled with the listing of them in petitioner’s accounts; and the forwarding of the certificates for reissue. Consequently, he uses as the basis, the fair market values of the shares on those dates, and has determined that petitioner’s loss on all the sales was only $1,318.86.

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

Related

Commissioner v. Crawford's Estate
139 F.2d 616 (Third Circuit, 1943)
Cox v. Commissioner
31 B.T.A. 819 (Board of Tax Appeals, 1934)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
31 B.T.A. 819, 1934 BTA LEXIS 1031, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cox-v-commissioner-bta-1934.