Fisher v. Commissioner

62 T.C. No. 9, 62 T.C. 73, 1974 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedApril 22, 1974
DocketDocket No. 4885-71
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 62 T.C. No. 9 (Fisher 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
Fisher v. Commissioner, 62 T.C. No. 9, 62 T.C. 73, 1974 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122 (tax 1974).

Opinion

Simpson, Judge:

The respondent determined deficiencies of $70,896 in the Federal income tax of the petitioner for each of the years 1966 and 1967. The parties are now in agreement that if we find a deficiency, such deficiency is in the tax for the year 1967. The sole issue for decision is whether the petitioner received 170,414 shares of stock as part of a transaction which qualified as a reorganization under section 368(a) (1) (B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1964,1 or whether in substance, be received 168,800 shares of stock as part of such reorganization and simultaneously received 1,614 additional shares taxable as a dividend under section 801.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated, and those facts are so found.

The petitioner, J. Eobert Fisher, maintained his legal residence in New York, N.Y., at the time his petition was filed in this case. He filed his individual Federal income tax returns for the years 1966 and 1967 with the district director of internal revenue, Manhattan District, New York.

In 1966, the petitioner owned 100 shares of common stock in Fisher Chemical Co., Inc. (Chemical), a corporation organized under the laws of the State of New York. Such 100 shares constituted all of the issued and outstanding shares of stock of Chemical.

On Friday, November 18, 1966, the petitioner and Ashland Oil & Defining Co., Inc. (Ashland), a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Kentucky, which has since changed its name to Ash-land Oil, Inc., entered into a written agreement, entitled “Agreement and Plan of Keorganization.” Ashland agreed to acquire from the petitioner all of the outstanding stock in Chemical in exchange for 168,800 shares of Ashland voting cumulative preferred stock, $2.40 convertible series of 1966 (Ashland stock).

The Ashland stock to be given the petitioner was designed by Ash-land to be an attractive security for use in business acquisitions. Each holder of Ashland stock was entitled to an annual preferred dividend of $2.40, payable quarterly on the 15th day of March, June, September, and December. Although the articles of incorporation provided that such dividends were to be cumulative from the date or dates of issue, Ashland had been informed by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) — the only exchange on which the stock was traded — that its rules would not permit the listing of additional shares of Ashland stock unless the first dividend on such shares covered the first full quarterly period for which the record date had not expired. All listed shares thus bore the same dividend.

In order to qualify the shares of Ashland stock for listing, a letter agreement was executed simultaneously with the agreement and plan of reorganization. Such letter agreement expressed the understanding of the parties that notwithstanding the fact that the certificates for the shares of Ashland stock were to be delivered on, and dated, the closing date, no dividends were to accrue for any period expiring on or prior to December 15,1966. Dividends were to fully accrue and be payable after December 15,1966.

The agreement and plan of reorganization provided that the closing of the transaction would not take place until the petitioner received a ruling from the Internal Eevenue Service, in form satisfactory to his counsel, that the transaction qualified as a tax-free reorganization under section 368(a) (1) (B) and that the Ashland stock did not constitute “Section 306 stock,” within the meaning of section 306 (c). In addition, the agreement provided that the transaction could not be closed earlier than 30 days following notice to the Department of Justice of the acquisition, unless the Department of Justice should have previously approved the transaction in response to such notice.

The parties to the agreement initially intended December 15, 1966, as the closing date for the transaction, and the petitioner urged his counsel to make every effort to expedite the closing. On Monday, November 21,1966, the first business day following the signing of the agreement, counsel for the petitioner filed an application for a tax ruling with the IES. In such request, counsel clearly stated that Ash-land proposed to acquire from the petitioner all of his outstanding stock in Chemical, in exchange for 168,800 shares of Ashland stock. Expeditious action was requested, and counsel asked that he be notified by telephone, so that the ruling could be picked up by hand. However, he had no real hope that the ruling could be secured in time for closing on the target date and informed the petitioner that it was generally 2 or 3 months before a ruling concerning reorganizations was handed down by the IES. In the interests of simplifying and expediting consideration of the ruling application, counsel for the petitioner, on Wednesday, November 23, 1966, withdrew that part of the ruling application relating to the classification of the Ashland stock as “section 306 stock.”

To secure the antitrust clearance, the petitioner’s Washington counsel filed a request with the Department of Justice on November 21, 1966.

The provision in the letter agreement that dividends on the petitioner’s shares of Ashland stock would cumulate from December 15, 1966, first came to the attention of the petitioner’s principal tax counsel on November 28, 1966, when a draft of an application to the NYSE for the listing of the petitioner’s stock was reviewed. Counsel considered it unlikely that the necessary rulings would be received in time for the closing to take place on December 15, 1966, and he feared that in the event the petitioner received a cash dividend in addition to the 168,800 shares of Ashland stock, the IES might take the position that the exchange did not qualify as a “B reorganization.” Initially, he considered filing a request for an amended ruling; but he rejected such course because it might delay or jeopardize the ruling. Thereupon, he communicated his concern to the petitioner and counsel for Ashland, and insisted that the contractual provisions relating to the accrual of dividends be modified.

By letter agreement, dated Friday, December 9,1966, the petitioner and Ashland amended their agreement, in part, by eliminating the requirement as to a ruling relating to the classification of the Ash-land stock as section 306 stock. Such amendment also provided:

This will also confirm our agreement that if the closing under the Agreement and Plan of Reorganization does not occur on or before December 15, 1966, no dividends shall accrue or be payable on or with respect to any shares of * * * [Ashland stock] to be delivered to you for any period prior to March 16, 1967. In lieu of the cumulative dividend from December 15, 1968, to which such shares would have been entitled if the dividend thereon were to accrue from that date, Ashland will deliver 1,614 additional shares of * * * [Ashland stock] to you at the closing. In the event that the closing does not occur on or before December 15, 1966, it is also agreed that the aggregate shares to be delivered to you at the closing will be held in escrow by an agent of your selection and approved by us until after the Record Date for the quarterly dividend payable on March 15, 1967.

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Related

Fisher v. Commissioner
62 T.C. No. 9 (U.S. Tax Court, 1974)

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Bluebook (online)
62 T.C. No. 9, 62 T.C. 73, 1974 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fisher-v-commissioner-tax-1974.