First Trust & Savings Bank v. United States

301 F. Supp. 194, 23 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 971, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12674
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Iowa
DecidedFebruary 19, 1969
DocketCiv. No. 3-746-D
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 301 F. Supp. 194 (First Trust & Savings Bank v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
First Trust & Savings Bank v. United States, 301 F. Supp. 194, 23 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 971, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12674 (S.D. Iowa 1969).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

STEPHENSON, Chief Judge.

This is an action for the refund of income taxes and interest with respect to an alleged overpayment of Federal Income Taxes for the taxable years ending December 31, 1962 and 1963. The jurisdiction of the Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1346(a) (1) is established. All facts have been stipulated and are found accordingly.

The plaintiff is a banking corporation authorized to operate within the State of Iowa with its principal place of business at Davenport, Scott County, Iowa. It files its tax returns on the cash basis of accounting and has elected to utilize the reserve method of accounting for loan losses which is set forth in Section 166 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

The plaintiff arranges financing with its customers when said customers deter[196]*196mine to build a home. After the customer’s credit is approved, .he executes a first mortgage and a mortgage note. Upon placing such mortgage on record and determining that it has the first lien on the property, the plaintiff credits a separate account in the customer’s name with the amount of the loan. There is no escrow agreement and no written agreement of any kind, except the note and mortgage. The note requires a payment of both principal and interest at the end of a six-month period. If construction is not completed at the end of said period, the bank usually will allow the customer to pay the interest due and will extend and renew the note for periods of three to six months.

After the funds are credited to the customer’s account, the customer communicates with a representative of plaintiff to request disbursements. Disbursements are made either to the borrower, to a creditor of the borrower, or jointly to the borrower and his creditor. The plaintiff charges a one percent service charge on the total principal amount so long as any funds are in said account. During the years in question, the plaintiff charged an average rate of six percent interest per annum on funds that were disbursed from these accounts. No interest is ever charged on funds credited to a customer’s account until funds are disbursed from said account, except for the one percent service charge. As a result of these financing arrangements the plaintiff increased its deductions for additions to reserve for loan losses in- the amount of $5,344.09 for the year ending December 31, 1962 and in the amount of $1,990.95 for the year ending December 31, 1963. These deductions were disallowed by the Internal Revenue Service.

These loans had previously been included in an account which included all escrow items such as excise and payroll taxes collected. The above described construction loans are included in the account entitled “Mortgage Loans Special” on plaintiff’s 1962 tax return and in the account entitled “Construction Loans” in the plaintiff’s 1963 tax return.

Plaintiff timely filed its corporate income tax returns (Forms 1120) for the calendar years 1962 and 1963 with the District Director of Internal Revenue at Des Moines, Iowa. The 1962 return reported a total tax due of $92,800.41, estimated tax paid of $7,777.98, investment credit of $1,384.57, resulting in a balance due of $83,637.86 which was paid in two equal installments. The 1963 tax return reported a total tax due of $119,847.23, estimated tax paid of $19,125.83, resulting in a balance due of $100,721.40, which whs 'paid in two equal installments.

Upon examination of these returns, the Internal Revenue Service proposed deficiencies in the amount of $3,976.06 for the year ending December 31, 1962, and $2,859.15 for the year ending December 31, 1963. A portion of these deficiencies was the result of the disallowance by the Internal Revenue Service of the above mentioned deductions for additions to reserve for loan losses, the issue in question herein. After paying the deficiency assessments on October 27, 1966 and on October 31, 1966, the plaintiff filed a claim for refund which was denied on April 14, 1967. This action was commenced on July 14, 1967, and the plaintiff alleges that as a result of the disallowance of the additions to the reserve for loan losses with respect to the construction loans approved and set aside by plaintiff, but not yet fully disbursed to the customer, it is entitled to a refund in the amount of $2,773.72 for the year ending December 31, 1962, and a refund of $1,035.30 for the year ending December 31, 1963.

The stated grounds for the dis-allowance of the claimed amounts for additions to reserve for loan losses are, first, that the transactions in question do not constitute loans until the funds are actually paid out of the customer’s account, and second, that there is no reasonable risk of loss attendant upon these transactions to justify allowance of a reserve for. bad debts thereon. It is fundamental that the determination of the Internal Revenue Service respecting income tax matters is presumptively correct, and [197]*197the burden is on the taxpayer .to show that it is erroneous. Welch v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 111, 54 S.Ct. 8, 78 L.Ed. 212 (1933); Northern Natural Gas Co. v. O’Malley, 277 F.2d 128 (8th Cir. 1960). However, the presumption disappears when evidence is introduced to overcome it. The presumption merely calls upon the taxpayer to produce proof to establish his case. Kentucky Trust Co. v. Glenn, 217 F.2d 462 (6th Cir. 1964).

Section 166 of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 166, provides in part: (a) General Rule.—

(1) Wholly worthless debts. — There shall be allowed as a deduction any debt which becomes worthless within the taxable years.
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(c) Reserve for bad debts. — In lieu of any deduction under subsection (a), there shall be allowed (in the discretion of the Secretary or his delegate) a deduction for a reasonable addition to a reserve for bad debts.

Section 1.166-1 (c) of the Treasury Regulations on income tax provides:

Bona fide debt required. Only a bona fide debt qualifies for purposes of section 166. A bona fide debt is a debt which arises from a debtor-creditor relationship based upon a valid and enforceable obligation to pay a fixed or determinable sum of money. A gift or contribution to capital shall not be considered a debt for purposes of this section. The fact that a bad debt is not due at the time of the deduction shall not of itself prevent its allowance under section 166. 26 C.F.R. § 1.166-1 (c).

The evidence in this case is sufficient to establish that the transactions in question constitute loans, and as such, debts within the meaning of section 166 of the Internal Revenue Code. A debtor-creditor relationship based upon a valid and enforceable obligation on the part of the borrower to pay a fixed or determinable sum of money is created at the time the loan is credited to the customer’s account.

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301 F. Supp. 194, 23 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 971, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12674, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-trust-savings-bank-v-united-states-iasd-1969.