Family Finance, Inc. v. Commissioner

32 T.C. 1193, 1959 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 92
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedSeptember 14, 1959
DocketDocket No. 71339
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 32 T.C. 1193 (Family Finance, Inc. 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
Family Finance, Inc. v. Commissioner, 32 T.C. 1193, 1959 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 92 (tax 1959).

Opinion

MulRONey, Judge:

The respondent determined deficiencies in income tax of petitioner for the fiscal years ended November 30, 1953, 1954, and 1955, in the amounts of $11,100.55, $16,124.23, and $22,-433.53, respectively.

The sole issue is whether amounts which a financial institution, discounting petitioner’s paper, credited during the years in issue on its books to the reserve account of petitioner, on an accrual basis of accounting, are excludible from taxable income of the petitioner in each of those years.

findings of fact.

Some of the facts are stipulated and are found accordingly.

Petitioner is a Tennessee corporation with its principal place of business in Memphis, and during the years involved it kept its books and filed its income tax returns on a fiscal year basis ended November 30, on an accrual basis of accounting. During the years here involved said returns were filed with the district director of internal revenue at Nashville.

Petitioner was engaged in the business of a loan broker at two offices in Memphis. It entered into an arrangement with Industrial Finance & Thrift Corporation of New Orleans, hereinafter called Industrial, evidenced by a written agreement, whereby Industrial would furnish the money for making loans to petitioner’s customers. This agreement specifically provided Industrial would withhold 2 per cent of the face amount of each loan and credit the same to a reserve account in the name of petitioner.

Petitioner did all of the detail work with respect to making the loans to customers. Each note was made payable to Industrial or bearer, executed by the customer in an amount sufficient to cover the net amount the customer wanted to borrow, plus sums sufficient to cover all interest, insurance premiums or other charges, and a brokerage fee for petitioner in an amount ranging from 6 to 15 per cent, depending upon the duration of the loan. Most of the loans were secured by chattel mortgages. Petitioner unconditionally endorsed all notes.

The notes were submitted daily to Industrial by petitioner and if Industrial accepted them it would furnish cash to petitioner for the loans, withholding, however, in accordance with the agreement, 2 per cent of the face amount of each note and crediting same to petitioner’s reserve account. This reserve account was governed by petitioner’s agreement with Industrial which provided, in part, as follows:

(a) Industrial Finance & Thrift Corporation may charge against such reserve any notes, conditional sales contracts, commercial paper or other instruments purchased by Industrial Finance & Thrift Corporation which become and remain delinquent for 90 days or more according to the respective original terms of such instruments.
(b) Unless modified by mutual agreement in the meantime, this reserve account shall continue and no part of same shall be withdrawn without the written consent of Industrial Finance & Thrift Corporation until the reserve account shall exceed 10% of the balances then outstanding on all such paper or instruments handled by Industrial Finance & Thrift Corporation. Any excess above 10% of such balances outstanding may be drawn by you on June 1st of each year during the life of this agreement, provided you have given Industrial Finance & Thrift Corporation 60 days’ written notice prior to said respective June 1st of your desires and demand for such payment to you.
(c) Upon termination of this agreement and when all papers and instruments handled hereunder have been liquidated in full and all amounts due under same have been paid in full, any balance remaining in such above reserve account shall be paid to you, upon your written demand therefor.

The bookkeeping steps followed by petitioner relative to its loan brokerage income may be demonstrated in the following manner. On a given day, for example, one or both of petitioner’s offices may have had customers who executed notes in the total face amount of $1,536. The data with respect to the notes and the notes themselves would be transmitted to Industrial Finance, and Industrial, if it accepted the paper, would provide cash to petitioner to cover the loans. Petitioner would then record on its books entries as follows:

Debits Credits

Cash received_ $1, 305. 72

Contingent reserve (2 per cent of the face amount of the notes)_ 30.72

Cash to customers (Net after all interest, insurance, and brokerage commissions were deducted)_ $1,135. 89

Brokerage commissions_ 182. 91

Recording fees or notary fees_ 9.00

Health and accident premiums, accounts payable_ 8.64

The difference in the $1,305.72 cash received by petitioner and the $1,536 face amount of the notes, or $230.28, represents the interest due on the notes, additional insurance, and the 2 per cent reserve withheld by Industrial Finance and credited on its books to the favor of petitioner. At the end of each taxable accounting period, the petitioner reduced the total credits to its brokerage commission account (the $182.91 credit in the example above) by the amount debited to its contingent reserve account (the $30.72 debit in the example above), and only the difference in such totals was reported as taxable income during the years here involved.

During the years here involved, the balances and yearly increases in the reserve account credited on the books of Industrial to the account of petitioner were as follows:

Balance, Nov. 30— 61 North 3d St. office 161 Madison Ave. office Total yearly increase

1952.. $30,713.32 0 0

1953.. 42,966.49 $950.76 $13,204.93

1954.. 50,605.25 8,031.94 14.719.94

1955.. 50,597.93 19,947.21 11.907.95

Petitioner, during all the years here concerned, excluded from ac-cruable income the yearly increases in the reserve account maintained for it by Industrial.

[Respondent determined the amounts of $13,204.93, $14,719.94, and $11,907.95, representing yearly increases in the credits to petitioner’s reserve account by Industrial during the fiscal years ended November 30,1953,1954, and 1955, respectively, should not be excluded from taxable income of petitioner in those respective years.

OPINION.

Petitioner contends that the sums withheld from its brokerage commissions and credited to the reserve are not properly accruable in the year the amounts were credited to the reserve account because payment of same by Industrial was so restricted under their agreement as to render ultimate receipt by the petitioner uncertain and indefinite. Petitioner urges that the credits to the reserve should be excluded from taxable income to it until they become absolutely payable under the agreement or the moneys are actually received.

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Bluebook (online)
32 T.C. 1193, 1959 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 92, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/family-finance-inc-v-commissioner-tax-1959.