Frank Ix & Sons Virginia Corp. v. Commissioner

45 T.C. 533, 1966 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 131
United States Tax Court·Decided March 11, 1966·No. Docket No. 3955-64·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

Atkins, Judge:

The respondent determined deficiencies in income tax for the taxable years ended March 31, 1957, March 29, 1958, and March 28, 1959, in the respective amounts of $84,309.62, $115,954.90, and $22,329.76.

The parties having reached agreement with respect to certain issues, the only issue remaining is whether net operating losses sustained by the petitioner for the taxable years ended March 31, 1953 and 1954, may be carried over and deducted from income earned by it in the taxable years ended March 31, 1957, March 29, 1958, and March 28, 1959, in the light of the principles of Libson Shops, Inc. v. Koehler, 353 U.S. 382.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated and the stipulations are incorporated herein by this reference.

The petitioner is a corporation organized under the laws of New Jersey on or about May 15, 1944, to engage in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of textiles, with its principal office at 3300 Hudson Avenue, Union City, N.J. During the years in issue, it maintained its books and records and filed its Federal income tax returns on an accrual method of accounting and on the basis of a fiscal year consisting of 52 or 53 weeks ending nearest to March 31. It filed its returns with the district director of internal revenue at Newark, N.J.

Petitioner’s name when organized was Cornelius Mills, Inc. On or about November 24, 1948, its name was changed to Frank lx & Sons Carolina Corp., and on or about August 8, 1950, its name was changed to Frank lx & Sons Sheraton Mills Corp. The change to the present name of petitioner, Frank lx & Sons Virginia Corp., was made on or about August 2, 1954, after a reorganization described hereinafter.

Another corporation, Frank lx & Sons of Virginia Inc., was organized under the laws of Virginia on November 18, 1948. On February 14, 1949, its name was changed to Frank lx & Sons Virginia Corp. (hereinafter referred to as the Virginia Corp.). It was dissolved on October 7,1954.

When the Virginia Corp. was organized on November 18, 1948, the persons who owned its stock had also owned, in the same proportions, the stock of the petitioner at its organization. The principal officers and directors of petitioner and of the Virginia Corp. were the same until April 29,1953, namely:

President_ Alexander F. Ix
Vice president_Frank J. Ix, Jr.
Vice president_ William E. Ix
Vice president_ Charles W. Ix
Treasurer_ Alexander F. Ix
Secretary_ Edward P. Ix

Alexander P. Ix died on April 29, 1958. On May 14, 1953, Edward P. Ix was elected president and treasurer of each of the corporations to succeed him and Charles W. Ix was elected secretary. Mary Hill Ix, widow of Alexander, was elected a vice president. Thereafter, and during all pertinent times, those individuals continued to occupy these positions.

Petitioner and the Virginia Corp. were, during all times pertinent, engaged in the manufacture and sale of woven synthetic fibers, including nylon, dacron, acetate, and rayon.

Petitioner maintained and operated a factory at Cornelius, N.C. (hereinafter referred to as the Cornelius mill). The Virginia Corp. maintained and operated a factory at Charlottesville, Va. (hereinafter referred to as the Charlottesville mill). The Cornelius mill had spinning and twisting machinery and the Charlottesville mill had throwing machinery. The spinning and twisting machinery and the throwing machinery performed the same functions with respect to the yam before weaving. Both had similar weaving machinery. The same types and styles of cloth were manufactured in the Cornelius mill as in the Charlottesville mill.

The Ix family group had several corporations, including Prank Ix & Sons, Inc.; Frank Ix & Sons Pennsylvania Corp.; Frank Ix & Sons Carolina Corp.; Prank Ix & Sons New York Corp.; and Frank Ix & Sons Administrative Corp.

Petitioner owned a building located at 3300 Hudson Avenue, Union City, N.J., which at all pertinent times was used by it, the Virginia Corp., and other Ix companies as a central office for accounting, bookkeeping, inventory control, and yarn purchasing. The same staff of employees performed these services for all the corporations. During the years 1949 to 1959 an office was maintained by Frank Ix & Sons New York Corp. at 1441 Broadway, N.Y. Such office maintained a complete technical staff, a production and control staff, and a sales force, which served all the Ix corporations, including the petitioner and the Virginia Corp. The technical staff, consisting of about 10 employees, did the styling and technical layouts; the production planning and control staff scheduled and laid out all the production work for all the plants; and the sales staff, consisting of a sales manager. 2 assistant sales managers, and about 8 salesmen, operated out of the Broadway, New York, office and solicited orders for the manufacture of cloth. Business was solicited throughout the United States. About 70 percent of the business was from customers in the New York City area. The orders so solicited were returned to the New York office where the production and control department determined which of the lx companies, including petitioner and the Virginia Corp., would manufacture the cloth. Such determination was based in part upon the workload of the various plants as well as the availability of skilled operators in the particular type of fabric to be manufactured. Frank lx & Sons New York Corp. charged a fee to the various companies for the services it performed as selling agent.

During the time it was in operation, the petitioner’s Cornelius mill operated approximately 600 looms and employed 400 to 500 persons. The Virginia Corp.’s Charlottesville mill operated approximately 1,000 looms and employed between 600 and 700 persons. In each mill there were single box looms and multiple box looms. Of the 1,000 looms operated by the Charlottesville mill 352 had been purchased for the petitioner’s Cornelius mill over the period 1948 to 1951.

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Frank Ix & Sons Virginia Corp. v. Commissioner, 45 T.C. 533, 1966 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 131 (tax 1966).

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Frank Ix & Sons Virginia Corp. v. Commissioner
45 T.C. 533 (U.S. Tax Court, 1966)