Cox v. Commissioner

43 T.C. 448, 1965 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 141
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedJanuary 21, 1965
DocketDocket Nos. 1534-63, 1535-63, 1536-63, 1537-63, 1538-63
StatusPublished
Cited by47 cases

This text of 43 T.C. 448 (Cox 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
Cox v. Commissioner, 43 T.C. 448, 1965 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 141 (tax 1965).

Opinion

The Commissioner determined the following deficiencies in income taxes for the year 1960:

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The cases were consolidated for trial.

Petitioners are the stockholders of Dodge & Cox, Inc., which elected to be taxed under subchapter S of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as amended. The issues presented herein for decision all concern the income of the corporation. They are as follows:

(1) Whether an accrual basis taxpayer which contracts to furnish investment management services during a period extending beyond the close of the taxable year is required to accrue and report as gross income for the taxable year (a) cash received in that year as an advance payment of the management fee, (b) amounts contractually due in that year, although not received, and (c) amounts not contractually due and not received, where the related services have not been performed.

(2) To the extent the Court accepts respondent’s position as to the items of income above relating to the close of the corporation’s taxable year, whether petitioners are entitled to treat the corresponding items at the beginning of the taxable year in the same manner, thereby eliminating them from income.

(3) If the corporation’s method of reporting income is disapproved, whether expenses which had accrued in the taxable year but which had been “deferred” may now be deducted in the taxable year in question.

FINDINGS OF FACT

The stipulated facts together with accompanying exhibits filed by the parties are incorporated herein by this reference.

The petitioners in each case, husband and wife residing in the San Francisco area, filed their joint income tax returns for the calendar year 1960 with the district director of internal revenue at San Francisco, Calif. The husbands will hereinafter sometimes be referred to as petitioners.

Petitioners owned all the outstanding stock of Dodge & Cox, Inc., a California corporation which was formed on February 4, 1959, and commenced business on March 1, 1959. Its books are maintained and its tax returns are filed on the basis of a fiscal year ending January 31. It employs the accrual method of accounting. Its income tax return for the 11-month period March 1, 1959, through January 31, 1960, was filed with the district director of internal revenue at San Francisco, Calif. The corporation elected to be taxed in accordance with subchapter S of the Interal Revenue Code of 1954, and accordingly a proportionate share of its income for the fiscal period ended January 31,1960, was reported by each of the petitioners in the joint returns which he and his respective spouse filed for 1960.

The business of the corporation was originated by a partnership in 1933, and was operated under the name of Dodge and Cox from 1933 until March 1, 1959. On or about March 1, 1959, the partners transferred the assets and liabilities to the corporation in exchange for its capital stock in a transaction that was treated as a nontaxable transfer under section 351 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. The same accounting system and method of reporting income employed by the partnership was adopted by the corporation, except that the partnership reported its income on a calendar year basis. Such system had consistently been employed since 1933. The partnership filed returns for each year through 1959.

The business of the corporation is that of providing investment management services for its clients, and is operated in the same manner as it had been, operated by the predecessor partnership. In general a client, upon engaging the services of the corporation, turns over money or securities to a bank to be held in a custody account for him and the corporation directs what purchases and sales of securities are to be made in such account. The clients consist of individuals and trustees and in addition the Dodge & Cox Fund, a diversified open-end investment trust.

The corporation’s activities looking towards the ultimate objective of providing investment management for its clients may be regarded as being divided generally into three categories: Research, account administration, and general administration.

The services of the “research department” are performed for all clients generally and without regard to the account of any single client. Its basic function is first to form an opinion with respect to the economic outlook for our country as it bears upon private business. This opinion is then used as a guide to overall diversification of the clients’ accounts between bonds, preferred stocks, and common stocks. Finally, the research department must determine what particular lines of business or industry will be the subject of investment and in what proportions. The work of the research department culminates in what is called a “policy control account.” This policy control account represents an application of the basic investment policy to an assumed dollar amount of investment and indicates by type of investment the amount that should be properly invested in each industry.

The “account administration department” actually applies the findings of the research department to the individual clients’ accounts. The object is to bring the clients’ accounts into proper alignment with the corporation’s overall investment policy. If the corporation deems it advisable, it will initiate purchases or sales of securities for the accounts.

Services performed under the category of “general administration” consist principally of the f ollowing :

(a) With respect to each client, the corporation receives a monthly statement from the bank reflecting the transactions which have taken place in that particular client’s custody account.

(b) The corporation maintains a separate ledger card for each client which reflects all transactions in the account. This ledger card is reconciled monthly with the statement received from the respective bank.

(c) The corporation maintains a list of the cost of the investments in each client’s account. This list is always consulted prior to initiating the sale of any security.

(d) The corporation prepares a quarterly appraisal of each client’s account. The date of each of the appraisals corresponds to the anniversary date of the opening of the particular account. However, the prices upon which, the appraisal is based are those prevailing on the nearest Monday to the anniversary date of the account. This appraisal is used not only for purposes of analysis, but is also the basis upon which the management fees (hereinafter referred to) of the corporation are computed.

(e) After each appraisal of an account, the corporation prepares a document entitled “Account Review.” This document compares, on a percentage basis, the investments of the particular account with the investments indicated by the policy control account.

(f) The corporation prepares a summary each year of the capital gains and losses in each account.

All of the services are regularly performed by the corporation as a matter of course during the year.

The services performed by the corporation are not dependent upon the demand or request of its clients.

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Bluebook (online)
43 T.C. 448, 1965 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 141, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cox-v-commissioner-tax-1965.