Doug-Long, Inc. v. Commissioner

73 T.C. 71, 1979 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 41
United States Tax Court·Decided October 11, 1979·No. Docket No. 11051-76·Published·Cited by 15 cases

Opinion

SUPPLEMENTAL OPINION

Hall, Judge:

On April 23, 1979, we filed our original opinion (72 T.C. 158) in this case. In his statutory notice, respondent determined the following deficiencies and additions for accumulated earnings tax for petitioner:

Accumulated earnings tax Deficiency Year
$12,020.25 $209.84 1972
10,168.85 0 1973
29,869.56 8,387.70 1974

In our original opinion, we held that petitioner was liable for the accumulated earnings tax under section 5311 for the years 1972, 1973, and 1974. To reflect adjustments in respondent’s determination which were set forth in our opinion, decision was to be entered under Rule 155, Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure. On June 13,1979, petitioner filed its computation for entry of decision. On July 12, 1979, respondent filed his computation for entry of decision. The parties’ computations agreed except for the calculation of the accumulated earnings tax for 1974. Pursuant to our orders dated July 16 and August 6, 1979, the parties filed supplemental memoranda of law with respect to this Rule 155 computation.

The dispute between the parties is focused on the amount of petitioner’s “accumulated taxable income” in 1974. Under section 531, the accumulated earnings tax is imposed on a corporation’s “accumulated taxable income” as defined in section 535. In relevant part, section 535 provides:

(a) Definition. — For purposes of this subtitle, the term “accumulated taxable income” means the taxable income, adjusted in the manner provided in subsection (b), minus the sum of the dividends paid deduction (as defined in section 561) and the accumulated earnings credit (as defined in subsection (c)).
(b) Adjustments to Taxable Income. — For purposes of subsection (a), taxable income shall be adjusted as follows:
(1) Taxes. — There shall be allowed as a deduction Federal income and excess profits taxes and income, war profits, and excess profits taxes of foreign countries and possessions of the United States (to the extent not allowable as a deduction under section 275(a)(4)), accrued during the taxable year or deemed to be paid by a domestic corporation under section 902(a)(1) or 960(a)(1)(C) for the taxable year, but not including the accumulated earnings tax imposed by section 531, the personal holding company tax imposed by section 541, or the taxes imposed by corresponding sections of a prior income tax law. [Emphasis added.]

Petitioner contends that, for purposes of calculating its accumulated taxable income, its taxable income for 1974 should be reduced by $8,387.70, the amount of its income tax deficiency as set forth in the statutory notice, in addition to the income tax paid with its return. Respondent, on the other hand, contends that $8,188.65 of the tax set forth in the notice of deficiency was not “accrued” within the meaning of section 535(b)(1).2

At the heart of this controversy is section 1.535-2(a)(l), Income Tax Regs., which provides:

(a) Taxes — (1) United States taxes. In computing accumulated taxable income for any taxable year, there shall be allowed as a deduction the amount by which Federal income and excess profits taxes accrued during the taxable year exceed the credit provided by section 33 (relating to taxes of foreign countries and possessions of the United States), except that no deduction shall be allowed for (i) the accumulated earnings tax imposed by section 531 (or a corresponding section of a prior law), (ii) the personal holding company tax imposed by section 541 (or a corresponding section of a prior law), and (iii) the excess profits tax imposed by subchapter E, chapter 2 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 1940. The deduction is for taxes accrued during the taxable year, regardless of whether the corporation uses an accrual method of accounting, the cash receipts and disbursements method, or any other allowable method of accounting. In computing the amount of taxes accrued, an unpaid tax which is being contested is not considered accrued until the contest is resolved. [Emphasis added.]

Petitioner contends that it did not “contest” the 1974 income tax deficiency or, in the alternative, that this regulation is invalid. On the other hand, respondent contends that petitioner did “contest” $8,188.65 of the income tax deficiency within the meaning of Dixie Pine Products Co. v. Commissioner, 320 U.S. 516 (1944), and, moreover, that this regulation is valid. For reasons set forth below, we agree with respondent.

The facts of this controversy are undisputed. Prior to issuing the statutory notice of deficiency, respondent proposed several adjustments to petitioner’s income tax for 1974. Specifically, respondent proposed to disallow the following deductions claimed by petitioner: (1) A deduction of $478 for plumbing expenses, (2) a bad debt deduction of $16,025.70, and (3) a deduction of $1,284 for the purchase of a lawnmower. On September 29, 1975, petitioner filed a protest with the District Director in Buffalo, N.Y., in which petitioner disputed respondent’s proposed adjustments with respect to the claimed bad debt deduction and the lawnmower; in this protest, petitioner conceded that it had erroneously deducted plumbing expenses of $478.

On September 21,1976, respondent issued a statutory notice of deficiency to petitioner with respect to petitioner’s 1972, 1973, and 1974 taxable years. In the statutory notice, respondent determined that petitioner was not entitled to any of these three claimed deductions. Specifically, respondent determined a deficiency in petitioner’s income tax for 1974 of $8,387.70, of which $199.05 was attributable to the deduction for plumbing expenses, and the remainder ($8,188.65) was attributable to the bad debt and lawnmower deductions. Respondent also determined that petitioner was liable for the accumulated earnings tax for all 3 years. In its petition filed December 20, 1976, petitioner conceded that it was not entitled to any of these claimed deductions; petitioner disputed only respondent’s determination with respect to the accumulated earnings tax.

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