Davis v. Commissioner

64 T.C. 1034, 1975 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 69
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedSeptember 11, 1975
DocketDocket Nos. 8665-71, 8666-71
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 64 T.C. 1034 (Davis 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
Davis v. Commissioner, 64 T.C. 1034, 1975 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 69 (tax 1975).

Opinion

Goffe, Judge:

The Commissioner determined deficiencies in Federal income taxes as follows:

Year Docket No. Deficiency Petitioner
8665-71 $39,676.24 Edwin D. Davis_ C-* CO T — I
8666-71 36,167.78 Edwin D. Davis and Sandra W. Davis_ CD CO I — I

The cases have been consolidated for trial, briefs, and opinion. The parties have settled certain adjustments made in the statutory notices of deficiency. The issue remaining for decision is whether the taxable income of Clinical Orthopaedic X-Ray, Inc., and Medical Center Therapy, Inc., should be attributed to petitioner Edwin D. Davis, M.D., pursuant to section 61, section 482, or both, or alternatively, whether the corporate income should be allocated to Dr. Davis pursuant to section 1375(c).1

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated. The stipulation of facts, supplemental stipulations of facts, and attached exhibits are incorporated by this reference.

Edwin D. Davis and Sandra W. Davis, hereinafter petitioners, were married during the taxable year 1966 and filed a joint Federal income tax return for 1966 with the District Director of Internal Revenue, Jacksonville, Fla. The petitioners were not married during the taxable year 1967 and petitioner Edwin D. Davis filed a separate Federal income tax return for 1967 with the District Director of Internal Revenue, Jacksonville, Fla. Petitioners were remarried in 1968 and resided in Daytona Beach, Fla., at the time of the filing of their petitions.

Petitioner is a medical doctor specializing in orthopedic surgery, including the diagnosis, correction, and/or prevention of skeletal deformities and the examination, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and injuries of bones, joints, and soft tissue adjacent to the bones and joints.

Dr. Davis came to Daytona Beach, Fla., in 1958 and has continuously carried on his medical practice in that locale. Initially, X-ray and physical therapy facilities were not personally made available by Dr. Davis to his patients and he would refer his patients, in the case of needed physical therapy, to unrelated third parties or institutions. In the case of X-rays, he would refer his patients to the office of a radiologist who conducted a practice in the same building. Upon Dr. Davis’ instruction, his nurse would direct the patient to the radiologist’s office with written instructions, whereupon the radiologist’s technician would then take the X-rays, develop the films, and send the films back to the doctor’s office where they were interpreted by Dr. Davis. Sometime prior to 1961, the radiologist informed petitioner that his X-ray facilities were overloaded due to the use demanded in servicing petitioner’s patients. An X-ray machine and other equipment were then acquired by petitioner and located in the same building where he conducted his practice. About a year before he established his own X-ray facility, Dr. Davis established a physical therapy facility to provide the modernized treatment which he considered necessary for adequate therapeutic treatment, although local therapy institutions considered such modern equipment unnecessary. He employed a physical therapist and assistants to operate the physical therapy facility.

In December 1961 and January 1962, the X-ray facilities and physical therapy facilities were incorporated under the laws of the State of Florida under the respective names of Clinical Orthopaedic X-Ray, Inc. (hereinafter X-Ray), and Medical Center Therapy, Inc. (hereinafter Therapy). The incorporation of the facilities was accomplished on the advice of petitioner’s accountant and attorney after petitioner’s request for a solution to various personal and business problems. Specifically, petitioner became aware of his potential liability occurring through the use of inherently dangerous equipment when a patient was seriously burned by an operator during heat therapy. He was also concerned about the potential for damage to his professional reputation resulting from the negligent acts of his employees. Further concern was caused by the fact that Dr. Davis’ first wife died in 1957 which left him with the care of three children, ages 3, 7, and 11 years. The lack of alternative family members to care for the children, the development of a cardiac problem, and remarriage to a woman much younger than the doctor, coupled with fears that, the marriage might end in divorce, which in fact occurred in 1967, prompted concern as to the care and means of support and maintenance for the children in the event of divorce and death. In addition to personal problems, there were personnel and supervisory problems caused by a desire on the part of the technicians in both the X-ray and the therapy facilities to deal, when necessary, directly with the doctor rather than dealing with his office manager. Consequently, in order to prevent dissension and to establish more autonomous groups as between the X-ray facility, therapy facility, and his private medical practice, he concluded that it would be helpful if the facilities could be reorganized and further separated by the use of the corporate form. Dr. Davis received complaints from physicians who referred patients to Dr. Davis concerning the amount of his fees which was caused by the failure of the patients to understand that his fees included fees charged for X-rays and physical therapy treatments. Therefore, he felt that the referring physicians would be better informed if separate billings were provided. He recognized, however, that the same resulte could have been accomplished by using a single statement which split the fees between medical, X-ray, and therapy services. This latter method of billing was adopted in November 1966 and one of the reasons for changing to a separate itemized statement was to satisfy the requirements of reimbursing insurance companies.

X~Ray and Therapy were both authorized to issue 50 shares of no-par capital stock. The authorized stock of the two corporations was issued on January 1 and January 10,1962, respectively, in the names of Dr. Davis (48 shares) and two nominees, Don R. Warren and French C. Davis as subscribers (1 share each), who served as incorporators with petitioner. On the same dates, the stock of the latter two subscribers was canceled and Dr. Davis, on the advice of his attorney, made gifts of 30 percent of the stock in each of the two corporations to each of his three minor children. Since the date of the gifts and throughout the period involved herein, the stock of the two corporations has been owned as follows:

Shareholder Therapy X-Ray
Edwin D. Davis (taxpayer)_ 5 shares 5 shares
Diana Lee Davis (daughter)- 15 shares 15 shares
Barbara Lynn Davis (daughter)_ 15 shares 15 shares
Edwin D. Davis II (son)_ 15 shares 15 shares
Total_ 50 shares 50 shares

Petitioner’s attorney also recommended the establishment of a formal guardianship for the stock that was transferred to the three children.

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

Related

First Counsel Capital, Inc.
U.S. Tax Court, 2021
GRIGORACI v. COMMISSIONER
2002 T.C. Memo. 202 (U.S. Tax Court, 2002)
Aagaard v. Commissioner
1985 T.C. Memo. 194 (U.S. Tax Court, 1985)
Horn v. Commissioner
1982 T.C. Memo. 741 (U.S. Tax Court, 1982)
Bell v. Commissioner
1982 T.C. Memo. 660 (U.S. Tax Court, 1982)
Jones v. Commissioner
64 T.C. 1066 (U.S. Tax Court, 1975)
Davis v. Commissioner
64 T.C. 1034 (U.S. Tax Court, 1975)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
64 T.C. 1034, 1975 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 69, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-commissioner-tax-1975.