Estate of Ruth Hanna, Deceased, the National City Bank of Cleveland v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

320 F.2d 54, 12 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5226, 1963 U.S. App. LEXIS 4580
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJuly 19, 1963
Docket14933_1
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 320 F.2d 54 (Estate of Ruth Hanna, Deceased, the National City Bank of Cleveland v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of Ruth Hanna, Deceased, the National City Bank of Cleveland v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 320 F.2d 54, 12 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5226, 1963 U.S. App. LEXIS 4580 (6th Cir. 1963).

Opinion

SHACKELFORD MILLER, Jr., Circuit Judge.

The petitioner, Estate of Ruth Hanna, deceased, sought in the Tax Court a re-determination of an income tax deficiency for the year 1958 in the amount of $11,-279.78. The Tax Court sustained the-deficiency assessment. Estate of Ruth Hanna, Deceased v. Commissioner, 37 T.C. 63. Petitioner seeks a review of the decision of the Tax Court.

The facts are stated in detail in the stipulation and in the opinion of the Tax Court, to which reference is made. For the purposes of this opinion, the following; *55 basic facts are sufficient for a decision of the issue involved.

The decedent died testate on July 4, 1955. Included in her gross estate were 2500 shares of stock of The Leader Building Company in Cleveland, Ohio. At the time of decedent’s death The Leader Building Company had 10,000 shares outstanding, the ownership of which was as follows:

Ruth Hanna, the decedent .... -...................... 2,500 shares
National City Bank as Trustee for Natalie Hanna Marvin............................ 2,605 “
National City Bank as Trustee for Charlotte Hanna Royce........................... 2,180 “
National City Bank as Trustee for Mary Hanna Ross................................ 2,715 “
Total 10,000 shares

Natalie Hanna Marvin, Charlotte Hanna Royce and Mary Hanna Ross were sisters of the decedent.

Petitioner’s basis for the stock held by it was $325.00 per share, the value determined by the Commissioner upon audit of the Federal Estate Tax return filed by the petitioner. The total value of The Leader Building Company stock included in the gross estate was thus $812,500.00. The value of the gross estate for Estate Tax purposes was $840,860.37. The taxpayer, accordingly, found it necessary to raise substantial funds through the sale of some of The Leader Building Company stock to pay the resulting Federal Estate Tax. On April 12, 1945, the decedent and her three sisters had entered into a buy-sell agreement under which they had the option to purchase shares to be sold by a party to the agreement at a price determined pursuant to a described formula. Each of the decedent’s three sisters declined to exercise their option to purchase the stock under the buy-sell agreement.

On September 27, 1956, The Leader Building Company redeemed from the petitioner 450 shares of said company’s stock at a price of $227.33 per share.

In 1957 The Leader Building Company redeemed 250 shares of its stock at $227.-33 per share and 433 shares of its stock at $258.25 per share.

On February 3, 1958, The Leader Building Company redeemed 20 shares of its stock from petitioner for which it paid $5,786.00.

Of the balance of 1,347 shares retained by the estate, 450 shares were, on March 31, 1957, distributed to the three sisters, who were the beneficiaries in equal proportions of the estate, and the remaining 897 shares were subsequently surrendered to the company upon its complete liquidation on July 23,1958.

In its Fiduciary Income Tax Return for the calendar year 1956 the petitioner claimed a loss of $43,951.50 on the redemption of shares in 1956. Of this total loss, the amount of $42,951.50 was treated as a capital loss carryover in its 1958 Fiduciary Income Tax Return.

In its Fiduciary Income Tax Return for 1957 the petitioner claimed a loss of $53,335.25 on the redemption of shares in 1957, which entire amount was treated as a capital loss carry-over in its Fiduciary Income Tax Return for 1958.

In its Fiduciary Income Tax Return for 1958 the petitioner claimed a loss of $713.30 on the redemption of shares in 1958, which was treated as a long-term capital loss for the year 1958.

On or about July 23, 1958, petitioner received $346,466.25 as a distribution in complete liquidation of The Leader Building Company, which distribution was *56 received in connection with the 897 shares of the Company stock still owned by petitioner at that time. Petitioner realized a long-term capital gain of $54,-941.25 in the calendar year 1958 by reason of this liquidation distribution.

In its Fiduciary Income Tax Return for 1958 petitioner applied the total amount of $96,286.75 from the loss carryovers from 1956 and 1957 and the amount of $713.30 as the long-term capital loss from the redemption of shares in that year to eliminate or offset the amount of $54,941.25 received in 1958 in the final liquidation of The Leader Building Company.

On audit of petitioner’s Fiduciary Income Tax Return for the year 1958 the Commissioner disallowed the aforesaid deductions of $96,286.75 and $713.30 against the long-term capital gain of $54,941.25 on the ground that said amounts deducted as losses arose from transactions between related parties, which were not deductible within the provisions of Section 267, Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This disallowance resulted in the deficiency assessment now under review.

This review, accordingly, presents for our consideration a construction of Section 267, Internal Revenue Code of 1954, which was formerly carried as Section 24 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939. In general, it disallows losses from sales or exchanges of property between persons occupying certain relationships which ordinarily would not result in a real economic loss. The following portions of Section 267 are applicable to our present case (emphasis added):

“Losses, expenses, and interest with respect to transactions between related taxpayers
“§ 267 (1954 Code), (a) Deduc- , tions disallowed. — No deduction shall be allowed—
“(1) Losses. — In respect of losses from sales or exchanges of property (other than losses in cases of distributions in corporate liquidations), directly or indirectly, between persons specified within any one of the paragraphs of subsection (b).
* * #
“(b) Relationships. — The persons-referred to in subsection fa) are:
“(1) Members of a family, as defined in subsection (c) (4);
“(2) An individual and a corporation more than 50 percent in value of the outstanding stock of which is owned, directly or indirectly, by or for such individual;
**-»»**
“(c) Constructive ownership of stock. — For purposes of determining, in applying subsection (b), the' ownership of stock—
“(1) Stock owned, directly or indirectly, by or for a corporation,, partnership, estate, or trust shall be-considered as being owned proportionately by or for its shareholders, partners, or beneficiaries;
“(2) An individual shall be considered as owning the stock owned, directly or indirectly, by or for his.

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320 F.2d 54, 12 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5226, 1963 U.S. App. LEXIS 4580, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-ruth-hanna-deceased-the-national-city-bank-of-cleveland-v-ca6-1963.