Estate of Smith v. Commissioner

63 T.C. 722, 1975 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 174
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedMarch 27, 1975
DocketDocket Nos. 7378-71, 5746-73
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 63 T.C. 722 (Estate of Smith 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
Estate of Smith v. Commissioner, 63 T.C. 722, 1975 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 174 (tax 1975).

Opinion

Featherston, Judge:

Respondent determined a deficiency in the amount of $38,145.91 in petitioner’s Federal estate tax (docket No. 7378-71) and a deficiency of $170,717.58 in petitioner’s Federal income tax for the taxable period August 13, 1967, to July 31, 1968 (docket No. 5746-73).

The issues presented for decision are:

1. Whether the value of stock purchase warrants of Gulf & Western Industries, Inc., received by the Estate of Charles A. Smith, deceased, in connection with a reorganization falling under section 368 (a)(1)(A)1 is taxable to the estate, and if so, whether the value of the warrants is taxable as long-term capital gain or as a dividend; and

2. Whether the warrants of Gulf & Western Industries, Inc., received by the estate in the reorganization should be valued under section 2032 for estate tax purposes as of the date of the reorganization-exchange or as of the date 1 year after the decedent’s death.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Donald C. Smith, coexecutor of the Estate of Charles A. Smith, deceased (hereinafter referred to as the estate), was a legal resident of Buffalo, N.Y., at the time the petitions herein were filed. The estate timely filed an estate tax return. It also filed a fiduciary income tax return for the taxable period August 13, 1967, through July 31,1968.

At the time of his death on August 13,1967, Charles A. Smith (hereinafter referred to as decedent) owned 41,738 shares of Consolidated Cigar Corp. (hereinafter Consolidated) common stock which had a value at that time of $1,022,581. On January 11, 1968, Consolidated was merged into Gulf & Western Industries, Inc. (hereinafter G&W), in a statutory merger of the type described in section 368(a). As a result of the merger, the estate received in exchange for its 41,738 shares of Consolidated common stock the following: (1) 4,637 shares of G&W series B preferred stock (hereinafter sometimes referred to as G&W preferred), (2) 8,347 warrants to purchase G&W common stock at $55 per share (hereinafter referred to as the warrants), and (3) money in the amount of $121.65 in lieu of fractional shares. This money was received from the sale of fractional interests in the open market; it did not come from either Consolidated or G&W. The G&W preferred gave its owners equal voting rights with all other classes of G&W stock.

A proxy statement issued to G&W shareholders describes the warrants as follows:

The Warrants which will be issued to holders of Consolidated Common Stock will entitle the holders to purchase shares of G&W Common Stock for $55 per share during a ten-year term commencing on the Effective Date of the Consolidated Merger. The purchase price and the total number of shares of G&W Common Stock issuable upon exercise are subject to adjustment in case of a split, reverse split or other reclassification of G&W Common Stock; or if rights or warrants are issued to all holders of shares of G&W Common Stock entitling them for a period of 45 days to purchase shares of G&W Common Stock at a price per share less than the current market price; or if any other securities (other than G&W Common Stock) or assets (other than cash payable out of consolidated earnings or earned surplus) are distributed to all holders of G&W Common Stock. An adjustment will also be made in case of dividends payable in shares of G&W Common Stock to the extent that such dividends in any fiscal year exceed five per cent of the outstanding Common Stock. No adjustment will be required if G&W otherwise issues, in exchange for cash, property or services, shares of G&W Common Stock or any security carrying rights to acquire G&W Common Stock. No adjustment will be required unless such adjustment will require an increase or decrease of at least $1 in the purchase price, but any adjustments not made by reason of this provision will be carried forward and taken into account at the time of any subsequent adjustment.
If G&W consolidates with or merges into or sells its assets to another corporation, and G&W is not the continuing corporation in such consolidation, merger or sale of assets, a holder of a Warrant will be entitled to receive the securities or property to which a holder of the number of shares of Common Stock then deliverable upon the exercise of such Warrant would have been entitled to receive upon such consolidation or merger.
Fractional shares of Common Stock will not be issued on exercises of Warrants, but G&W shall, in lieu thereof, either make a payment in cash based on the purchase price of the Common Stock purchasable upon the exercise of the Warrants, or issue scrip certificates (of such duration as determined by the Board of Directors) evidencing such fractional interests, which certificates may be combined and exchanged for whole shares of Common Stock of the Company.
Until a Warrant is exercised, its holder will not be entitled to any of the rights of a stockholder of G&W.

The proxy statement also states:

Consolidated has requested the Internal Revenue Service to issue rulings to the effect that: (a) the merger of Consolidated into G&W will constitute a reorganization within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code; (b) no gain or loss will be recognized by G&W, Consolidated or New Consolidated as a result of such merger or the transactions contemplated thereby; (c) gain (but not loss) will be recognized by the stockholders of Consolidated upon the conversion and exchange of their Consolidated Common Stock for G&W Series B Preferred Stock and Warrants (including fractional interests), limited to the fair market value of the Warrants; (d) the basis of the G&W Series B Preferred Stock will be the basis of the Consolidated Common Stock exchanged therefor, increased by the gain, if any, recognized upon the exchange and decreased by the fair market value of the Warrants; (e) the holding period of stockholders of Consolidated Common Stock of the Series B Preferred Stock received in exchange therefor, including fractional interests, will include the holding period during which such Consolidated Common Stock was held or deemed to be held by stockholders of Consolidated; (f) the basis of the Warrants received in exchange for the Consolidated Common Stock will be the fair market value thereof on the Effective Date of the merger, and the holding period of such Warrant will date from said Effective Date; (g) holders of Consolidated Common Stock selling fractional interests in shares of G&W Series B Preferred Stock received on the merger will realize gain or loss on such sale, which gain or loss will constitute capital gain or loss provided that the Consolidated Common Stock is a capital asset in the hands of the stockholders; * * *

The shares of Consolidated which were owned by the estate prior to the merger constituted approximately .0082 percent of the total outstanding voting stock of Consolidated. The Consolidated stock earned dividends of 60 cents per share in the first 6 months of 1967. The shares which the estate owned in G&W after the merger represented approximately .0003 percent of the total outstanding voting stock of G&W. The affirmative vote of two-thirds of Consolidated stockholders was sufficient to approve the merger.

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Related

Estate of Smith v. Commissioner
63 T.C. 722 (U.S. Tax Court, 1975)

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Bluebook (online)
63 T.C. 722, 1975 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 174, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-smith-v-commissioner-tax-1975.