Estate of Lovett v. United States

621 F.2d 1130, 224 Ct. Cl. 32, 45 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1664, 1980 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 163
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedMay 14, 1980
DocketNo. 191-74
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 621 F.2d 1130 (Estate of Lovett v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of Lovett v. United States, 621 F.2d 1130, 224 Ct. Cl. 32, 45 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1664, 1980 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 163 (cc 1980).

Opinion

COWEN, Senior Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

William R. Lovett1 (taxpayer) brought suit here in June 1974 seeking a refund of an alleged overpayment of $803,440.25 in federal income taxes and assessed interest for his taxable year 1963. The petition sets forth two different claims involving a variety of issues, but only one question is presented by the taxpayer’s motion for summary judgment and the defendant’s cross-motion for partial summary judgment. That question is whether § 951(d) of the Internal Revenue Code2 prohibits the inclusion in the taxpayer’s gross income in the same taxable year of amounts under both § 551(b) of the foreign personal holding company provisions and § 951(a)(1)(B) of the controlled foreign corporation provisions of the Code. After hearing oral argument and careful consideration of the briefs, we have concluded that § 951(d) does bar such inclusion and we accordingly grant taxpayer’s motion for summary judgment. '

I.

A. The facts pertinent to the issue here are few and agreed upon by the parties. During the calendar year 1963, [36]*36taxpayer owned 100 percent of the stock of Honduras Shipping Company, S.A. (Honduras), a foreign corporation. For 1963 Honduras was both a foreign personal holding company, as defined in § 552, and a controlled foreign corporation, as defined in § 957. Taxpayer was subject to tax in 1963 under § 551(b) on the undistributed foreign personal holding company income of Honduras in the amount of $405,120.09, which amount the taxpayer has paid. Honduras increased its investment in United States property by $305,828 in 1963. As a consequence of this increased investment in United States property, an additional $305,828 was included in taxpayer’s gross income pursuant to § 951(a)(1)(B). The resulting increase in federal income tax was assessed and paid in May 1971. A claim for refund was filed on May 26, 1973. Defendant took no act ion on the claim and the taxpayer filed this suit.

Although the taxpayer raised several grounds in his petition as to why this $305,828 is not properly includable in his gross income, the only contention advanced here is that such inclusion is prohibited by § 951(d).

B. While the facts of this case are relatively simple, the same cannot, unfortunately, be said of the pertinent Code provisions. Two different groups of Code provisions, or "regimes,” are involved here: (1) the foreign personal holding company provisions set out in §§ 551-558, and (2) the controlled foreign corporation provisions set out in §§ 951-964 (occasionally referred to herein as subpart F). In broad terms, both regimes require the United States shareholders of certain foreign corporations to include in their gross income portions of specified types of undistributed income of the foreign corporation. A somewhat more detailed explanation of these two regimes follows.

1. Pursuant to § 552, a foreign corporation is classified as a foreign personal holding company for a taxable year if it satisfies both a gross income requirement and a stock ownership requirement. Subsection (a)(1) of § 552 establishes alternative gross income requirements depending upon whether the corporation has been a foreign personal holding company in a prior year. If the corporation has never before been classified as a foreign personal holding company, then 60 percent or more of its gross income must [37]*37be foreign personal holding company income. If the corporation has been a foreign personal holding company in some prior year, then only 50 percent or more of its gross income must be foreign personal holding company income to satisfy the gross income requirement. The 50 percent requirement returns to 60 percent upon the fulfillment of either of two conditions: (1) there is a taxable year during which the stock ownership requirement is not met, or (2) for 3 consecutive taxable years the foreign corporation’s foreign personal holding company income is less than 50 percent of its gross income. Section 553 defines foreign personal holding company income as including, inter alia, dividends, interest, gain from the sale of stock or securities (except in the case of dealers), gains from commodities futures transactions, income from estates and trusts, and rents (unless constituting 50 percent or more of the corporation’s gross income).

Subsection (a)(2) of § 552 sets out the stock ownership portion of the definition of a foreign personal holding company. It requires that at some time during the taxable year more than 50 percent in value of the corporation’s outstanding stock be owned, directly or indirectly, by not more than five individuals who are citizens or residents of the United States.

If a foreign corporation satisfies these two requirements and is as a consequence classified for a taxable year as a foreign personal holding company, § 551 requires the United States shareholders (as of the last day of the corporation’s taxable year on which the stock ownership requirement was met) to include a portion of the corporation’s undistributed foreign personal holding company income in their gross income.

2. The provisions of subpart F are much more intricate and involved than those of the foreign personal holding company regime,3 but not all of the intricacies need be detailed here. A controlled foreign corporation is defined in § 957 as a foreign corporation of which more than 50 [38]*38percent of the total combined voting power of all classes of voting stock is owned, directly or indirectly, on any day during its taxable year by "United States shareholders.” A "United States shareholder” is a shareholder who owns at least 10 percent of the voting stock of the foreign corporation. Section 951(b). If a foreign corporation is a controlled foreign corporation for 30 consecutive days during its taxable year, § 951(a) requires United States shareholders who own stock in the corporation on the last day on which it is a controlled foreign corporation to include certain sums in their gross income.

During the year in issue the following amounts were required to be included in a United States shareholder’s gross income by § 951(a): (1) his pro rata share of the corporation’s subpart F income, § 951(a)(l)(A)(i); (2) his pro rata share of the corporation’s previously excluded subpart F income withdrawn from investment in less developed countries during the taxable year, § 951(a)(l)(A)(ii); and (3) his pro rata share of the corporation’s increase in earnings invested in United States property during the taxable year, § 951(a)(1)(B). Subpart F income, in turn, consisted of income derived from the insurance of United States risks and foreign base company income. Section 952. Foreign base company income included foreign base company sales income, foreign base company services income, and foreign personal holding company income with some modifications. Section 954(a). During the year in issue, the principal modifications to foreign personal holding company income for purposes of including it in gross income under subpart F were that all rents were includable without regard to whether they constituted 50 percent or more of gross income, and that certain foreign personal holding company income derived from the active conduct of a trade or business was not includable. Section 954(c).

3.

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621 F.2d 1130, 224 Ct. Cl. 32, 45 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1664, 1980 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 163, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-lovett-v-united-states-cc-1980.