FEDERAL EMPLOYEES'DISTRIBUTING COMPANY v. United States

206 F. Supp. 330, 10 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5292, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4945
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedJune 12, 1962
Docket331-61
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 206 F. Supp. 330 (FEDERAL EMPLOYEES'DISTRIBUTING COMPANY v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
FEDERAL EMPLOYEES'DISTRIBUTING COMPANY v. United States, 206 F. Supp. 330, 10 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5292, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4945 (S.D. Cal. 1962).

Opinion

MATHES, District Judge.

Plaintiff company brings this action, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1346(a) (1) and § 7422(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 [26 U.S.C. § 7422(a)], for a refund with interest of Federal income taxes paid for the period July 1, 1956, through December 31,1957, claiming that membership fees received by plaintiff during that period were improperly taxed as “income” by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

The evidence adduced at trial reveals no substantial controversy as to the material facts, which may briefly be stated as follows. Plaintiff, known generally as “Fedco”, was incorporated under the laws of California as a nonprofit corporation [see Cal.Corp.Code § 9200] in August of 1949 and, during the period in question, was engaged in the sale of consumer goods at discounted retail prices to its members and their guests at five store and warehouse locations in Southern California. Membership was limited chiefly to government employees.

In return for a fee of two dollars, each qualified applicant received a non-assessable and non-transferable life-membership certificate entitling him, inter alia, to enter plaintiff’s premises and make purchases at a “discount”. No further or periodic payments were called for, since membership for life was acquired by payment of the initial two-dollar fee, subject, however, to revocation “for any cause deemed sufficient” by a two-thirds vote of the Board of Directors.

Regular members, comprising the bulk of the membership, were entitled under plaintiff’s by-laws to vote for the election of directors, “all of whom shall be life members of the organization”. Each member was also entitled to receive a pro rata share of all corporate assets remaining at the time of liquidation or dissolution. Upon the death of a member, the membership fees were refundable at the option of the estate of the deceased; and, unless refunded, the decedent’s spouse would succeed to all privileges of membership, excepting only “the right to vote or hold office or serve on the Board of Directors of this Corporation”.

As ground for the refund claimed, plaintiff contends that the membership fees in question constituted a “contribution to the capital” of the corporation within the meaning of § 118 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 [26 U.S.C. § 118], or were received “in exchange for stock” pursuant to § 1032(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 [26 U.S. C. § 1032(a)]; and that, in either case, such fees were exempted from inclusion in plaintiff’s gross income. Plaintiff further urges that the membership fees cannot, in any event, be deemed income under the Federal Constitution, since the capital nature of the transactions precludes treating them as “income” within the scope of the Sixteenth Amendment; and so any Federal tax upon these fees would be subject to the further Constitutional requirement that direct taxes must be “apportioned among the several States” [U.S.Const. art. I, § 2, cl. 3], and “in Proportion to the Census” [U.S.Const. art. I, § 9, cl. 4].

In reply, defendant insists that the membership fees must be declared as “income”, since they constituted nothing more in substance than payment for services to be rendered. [See Int.Rev. Code of 1954, § 61(a) (1), 26 U.S.C. § 61(a) (1).] In the alternative, defendant further contends that, should such fees not be characterized as “income”, then the Government would, in all events, be entitled to recoupment pursuant to § 362(c) (2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 [26 U.S.C. § 362(c) (2)], resulting from a corresponding basis-reduction of depreciable property, namely, “furniture, fixtures, equipment, [and] leasehold improvements” acquired by plaintiff with the proceeds of the fees.

The term “gross income” has been defined as “all income from whatever source derived”. [Int.Rev.Code of 1954, § 61(a), 26 U.S.C. § 61(a).] “And the [Supreme] Court has given a, liberal *333 construction to this broad phraseology in recognition of the intention of Congress to tax all gains except those specifically exempted.” [Commissioner v. Glenshaw Glass Co., 348 U.S. 426, 430, 75 S.Ct. 473, 99 L.Ed. 483 (1955).]

One such exemption is found in § 118 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, which provides that “In the case of a corporation, gross income does not include any contribution to the capital of the taxpayer”. This provision, without counterpart in any prior Code, was enacted to codify then-existing law as to contributions made by groups or individuals without proprietary interest in a corporation, since in many cases such contributions could neither be deemed gifts nor payments for services, and therefore should not be taxable as income. [See: H.R.Rep.No.1337, 83rd Cong., 2d Sess. at p. a38 (1954); S.Rep. No. 1622, 83rd Cong., 2d Sess. at pp. 18-19 (1954); U.S.Code Cong, and Admin. News 1954, pp. 4042, 4648.] Indeed, Treasury Regulation § 1.118-1 [26 C.F. R. § 1.118-1] declares that “the exclusion [§ 118] does not apply to any money or property transferred to the corporation in consideration for goods or services rendered * * * ”.

Thus, the question of whether a payment to a corporation constitutes a “contribution to the capital of the taxpayer”, within the meaning of § 118, is held to turn not only upon what is given or gained in return for the payment, but also upon the motive or purpose and intent of the person making the payment. [See: Brown Shoe Co. v. Commissioner, 339 U.S. 583, 591, 70 S.Ct. 820, 94 L.Ed. 1081 (1950); Detroit Edison Co. v. Commissioner, 319 U.S. 98, 102-103, 63 S.Ct. 902, 87 L.Ed. 1286 (1943); cf. Edwards v. Cuba Railroad, 268 U.S. 628, 632-633, 45 S.Ct. 614, 69 L.Ed. 1124 (1925).] And these criteria have been applied even in cases where the “contribution” of a fixed amount has been found to be at least part-payment for services. [See: Teleservice Co. of Wyo. Val. v. Commissioner, 254 F.2d 105 (3rd Cir.), cert. denied, 357 U.S. 919, 78 S.Ct. 1360, 2 L.Ed.2d 1364 (1958); Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Co., 32 T.C.

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206 F. Supp. 330, 10 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5292, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4945, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/federal-employeesdistributing-company-v-united-states-casd-1962.