Duncan Industries, Inc., etc. v. Commissioner

73 T.C. 266, 1979 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 23
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedNovember 15, 1979
DocketDocket No. 6412-77
StatusPublished
Cited by79 cases

This text of 73 T.C. 266 (Duncan Industries, Inc., etc. 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
Duncan Industries, Inc., etc. v. Commissioner, 73 T.C. 266, 1979 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 23 (tax 1979).

Opinion

Drennen, Judge:

Respondent has determined the following deficiencies in petitioner’s corporate income tax:

FYE Mar. 31— Deficiency
1973 . $1,858
1974 . 7,287

The following issues1 are presented for our resolution:

(1) Whether petitioner sold discounted stock in connection with a certain loan agreement;

(2) If the stock was in fact discounted, does section 1032,1.R.C. 1954,2 bar a deduction under section 162;

(3) Whether petitioner must show its compliance with the terms of section 83(h) in order to claim a deduction in connection with this transaction.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. The stipulation of facts together with the exhibits attached thereto are incorporated herein by reference.

Petitioner, an Ohio corporation, maintained its principal place of business in Montecito, Calif. Petitioner filed a timely U.S. Corporation Income Tax return for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1973, with the District Director of the Internal Revenue Service at Cincinnati, Ohio. Petitioner filed its U.S. Corporation Income Tax return for the fiscal year ending March 31,1974, on September 17,1974. It also filed an amended return for this year on December 16, 1974. Both these returns were filed with the District Director of the Internal Revenue Service at Cincinnati, Ohio.

The petitioner’s predecessor in interest, Marblcast, Inc. (Marblcast), was formed on February 18,1969, under the laws of the State of Georgia, and began the manufacture of marble products. The authorized capital stock of the corporation was 1 million shares of $1 par value stock. At that time, Andrew J. Duncan, Jr. (Duncan), was its sole shareholder and president.3 In its first year of operation, Marblcast incurred an operating loss of approximately $40,000.

Dycap, Inc. (Dycap), is a small business investment company (SBIC). Dycap, as are all SBICs, is licensed under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. It is a privately owned and capitalized company and engages in the business of making high-risk loans to new or financially unsettled corporations. Dycap is regulated by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and is subject to annual examination by the SBA to determine if its regulations are being properly followed.

When Dycap determines to make a loan, it typically borrows funds from the SBA. The SBA will loan Dycap $3 for every dollar of privately invested capital it raises and will charge a 7%-percent rate of interest on the money loaned. Dycap then loans the funds to other companies at a mutually agreeable rate of interest. However, pursuant to SBA regulations, it may not lend money with an interest rate in excess of 15 percent.

Because of this interest limitation and the usually small spread between the interest paid to the SBA and the interest . received from its debtor companies, Dycap usually purchased an equity interest in the companies to which it was lending money. Dycap obtained these interests in one of two ways, either by purchasing the stock outright, or by purchasing call options with the striking price set at the time of the making of the loan. Outside of the 15-percent-a-year limit on the amount charged on the outstanding principal, the SBA placed no restrictions on Dycap on the amount of consideration paid for these equity positions, nor did it limit fees charged for obtaining a loan.

During 1969, Ballinger, Inc. (Ballinger), an Ohio corporation and a competitor of Marblcast, obtained a loan from Dycap. Incident thereto, Dycap purchased 100 shares of Ballinger preferred stock. This loan was repaid with the life insurance proceeds obtained as a result of the death of Mr. Ballinger, president of Ballinger.

In December 1969, it came to Duncan’s attention that Ballinger might be for sale. Ballinger was a relatively new company and had a negative net worth since its inception. Marblcast was in need of additional sales accounts. Duncan believed that a purchase of Ballinger, with its existing sales accounts, would be financially expedient and at that time contacted A. Gordon Imhoff (Imhoff), who had been running Ballinger during the period following Mr. Ballinger’s death. Imhoff was also a director and general manager of Dycap. Additionally, Imhoff handled all of Dycap’s portfolio investments.

Duncan was unable to secure financing from conventional lenders with which to complete the purchase of Ballinger. Since without financing there could be no purchase, he then contacted Imhoff about the possibility of obtaining a loan from Dycap. Marblcast supplied Imhoff with information regarding its financial status, history, and makeup of management; additionally, Imhoff requested and was supplied information regarding Duncan’s background. Among the documents Imhoff reviewed incident to this loan request was Marblcast’s unaudited balance sheet for the period ending December 31, 1969 (Exhibit 14-N), which was as follows:4

DECEMBER 31, 1969
Assets
Current assets:
Push $25
Accounts receivable — trade . 43,533
Employee advances . 50
Inventories . 19,600
Prepaid expenses . 4,240
Total current assets . 67,448
Fixed assets:
$50,804 Machinery and equipment .
3,697 Automobiles .
6,704 Leasehold improvements .
7,984 Office equipment .
692 Sales equipment .
11,405 Molds .
81,286
8,372 Less: accumulated depreciation . 72,914
Other assets:
Unamorized [sic] organization expense 05 <J\ ©
Unamortized pre-production costs . 05 ©
Deposits . 8,570 CO 8
148,932
Liabilities and Stockholders Equity
Current liabilities:
Notes payable — banks . 45,000
Installment notes payable — current . 5,290
Accounts payable . 32,939
Payroll taxes — withheld and accrued . 6,829
Overdraft — checking accounts . 168
Accrued interest . 708

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Bluebook (online)
73 T.C. 266, 1979 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 23, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/duncan-industries-inc-etc-v-commissioner-tax-1979.