Federated Mut. Implement & Hardware Ins. Co. v. Commissioner

29 T.C. 262, 1957 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 42
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedNovember 18, 1957
DocketDocket Nos. 56498, 59792
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 29 T.C. 262 (Federated Mut. Implement & Hardware Ins. Co. 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
Federated Mut. Implement & Hardware Ins. Co. v. Commissioner, 29 T.C. 262, 1957 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 42 (tax 1957).

Opinion

OPINION.

Withey, Judge:

Respondent determined deficiencies in petitioner’s income tax for the years and in the amounts as follows:

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The deficiencies are due primarily to the respondent’s action in reducing the credit available for foreign taxes by disallowing substantial amounts in the income taxes accrued by petitioner to the Dominion of Canada during the years involved.

The issue presented for our decision concerns the proper composition of the ratio to be utilized by petitioner during 1948 through 1953, as the credit-limiting fraction provided in section 131 (b) (1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939.

The case was submitted upon a stipulation of facts which is hereby adopted as our findings of fact and which may be summarized as follows.

Petitioner is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Minnesota and is authorized to transact business throughout the United States and in the Dominion of Canada. Petitioner’s principal office is located at Owatonna, Minnesota. During the years 1948 through 1953, petitioner was a mutual fire and casualty insurance company subject to tax under section 207 of the 1939 Code; however, it was not an interinsurer or reciprocal underwriter within the meaning of subsection (a) (3) of that section.

Petitioner filed its Federal income tax returns for each of the years in issue with the director of internal revenue for the district of Minnesota at St. Paul, Minnesota. The returns for each year were filed on Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service, Form 1120M. To each return was attached Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service, Form 1118, entitled “Statement in Support of Credit Claimed by Domestic Corporation for Taxes Paid or Accrued to a Foreign Country or Possession of the United States.” During each of the years here in question, petitioner kept its books and prepared its income tax returns on an accrual method of accounting. For the years 1948 and 1949, petitioner computed its income tax liability on the basis of its gross investment income and net premiums pursuant to section 207 (a) (2) of the 1939 Code. During each of the remaining years here involved, petitioner’s income tax was computed on the basis of its net investment income as determined under subsections (a) (1) and (b) (4) of section 207 of the Code.

During the years in issue, the petitioner transacted business in the Dominion of Canada. However, it did not transact business in any possession of the United States or in any foreign country other than the Dominion of Canada, and it did not derive any income from such other sources.

During the years 1948 to 1953, inclusive, the petitioner accrued income taxes to the Dominion of Canada on the “underwriting profits” resulting from its Canadian business pursuant to the Income War Tax Act, the Income Tax Act, and the Old Age Security Act in effect in Canada during those years. The underwriting profits on which petitioner’s Canadian income and old age security taxes were based consisted of the excess of the premiums earned in Canada, on the basis of full unearned premium reserve, over claims and expenses incurred in Canada and dividends paid to policyholders in Canada. Pursuant to the Canadian income tax regulations, no income from interest, dividends, rents, gains from the sale or exchange of capital assets, or any other investment income was required to be included in its income tax base. No deduction for home office expenses attributable to petitioner’s Canadian business was allowed. Petitioner’s Canadian income and old age security taxes so accrued were for the years and in the amounts as follows:

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The foregoing income and old age security taxes accrued to the Dominion of Canada constituted income taxes accrued to a foreign country within the meaning of sections 131 and 205 of the 1939 Code.

During the years 1948 to 1953, inclusive, the underwriting profits on which the petitioner’s income and old age security taxes accrued to the Dominion of Canada were based were as follows:

Tear Taxable income1
1948_$60, 645. 66
1949_ 160,909.49
1950_ 240,198. 01
1951_ 149, 698. 52
1952_ 805,756.96
1953_ 431,870.61
1 Expressed in terms of Canadian money.

During the years 1948 to 1953, inclusive, the petitioner’s net income from all sources as determined under section 207 (a) (1) of the 1939 Code was as follows:

Tear Net income
1948_, $251,125. 27
1949_ 274, 519. 85
1950_ 304,042.62
1951_ 327,212. 47
1952_ 387,303.73
1953_ 460,769.92

The combined corporation income tax and surtax rates applicable to mutual insurance companies taxable under section 207 of the 1939 Code were as follows for each of the years involved:

Year Combined tax rate (per cent)
1948_38
1949_38
1950_i_42
1951_50%
1952_52
1953_52

The corporation income tax rates in effect in the Dominion of Canada during the years in issue (except for lower rates on the first $10,000 of net income during the years 1949 to 1952, inclusive, and on the first $20,000 of net income in 1953) .were as follows:

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Petitioner’s gross income realized during the years in issue from dividends, rents, and gains from the sale or exchange of capital assets to the extent provided under section 117 of the 1939 Code, together with its investment expenses, real estate expenses exclusive of taxes, depreciation, taxes, interest paid or accrued, and capital losses, was as follows:

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Petitioner’s gross interest as determined by respondent within the meaning of section 207 (b) (1) of the Code, the amount of interest excluded from gross income under section 22 (b) (4) of the Code, and its credits as provided in section 26 of the Code for each of the years in issue are as follows:

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Petitioner claimed foreign tax credits on its income tax returns for each of the years in question as follows:

Year Credits claimed
1948_ $18,193.70

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90 T.C. No. 84 (U.S. Tax Court, 1988)
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192 F. Supp. 358 (N.D. Iowa, 1961)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
29 T.C. 262, 1957 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 42, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/federated-mut-implement-hardware-ins-co-v-commissioner-tax-1957.