Franklin Title & Trust Co. v. Commissioner

32 B.T.A. 266, 1935 BTA LEXIS 969
CourtUnited States Board of Tax Appeals
DecidedMarch 28, 1935
DocketDocket Nos. 51947, 60167, 67804, 67805.
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 32 B.T.A. 266 (Franklin Title & Trust Co. v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Board of Tax Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Franklin Title & Trust Co. v. Commissioner, 32 B.T.A. 266, 1935 BTA LEXIS 969 (bta 1935).

Opinion

OPINION.

MuRdock: The following table shows the deficiencies determined by the Commissioner:

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The cases were consolidated. The facts of record were stipulated. There are in controversy three issues, all of which were raised by the petitioners.

One issue relates only to the year 1930. The Franklin Bond & Mortgage Co. owned all of the capital stock of the Ben Franklin Fire Insurance Co. A consolidated return was filed for the year 1930 by certain trustees for the Franklin Bond & Mortgage Co., the Ben Franklin Fire Insurance Co., and the Franklin Title & Trust Co. This return showed that the two latter companies had net income while the mortgage company had a loss. The Commissioner held that the insurance company was taxable separately. The parties are in agreement as to the amount of its taxable income. The record does not show that the Commissioner has not taxed this insurance company under section 204 of the Revenue Act of 1928 and the parties in their argument and presentation of the case seem to assume that he has taxed it under that section. It is only reasonable to believe that he has so taxed it. The mortgage company and the [268]*268trust company were subject to tax under section 13 of that act. If the insurance company was subject to the tax imposed by section 204, it can not be included in the same consolidated return with the other corporations, which were subject to the tax imposed by section 13. See sec. 141(e). Cf. Fire Companies Building Corporation, 23 B. T. A. 550; affd., 54 Fed. (2d) 488; certiorari denied, 286 U. S. 546; Travelers Indemnity Co., 31 B. T. A. 507. The sole contention of the fire insurance company is that it was in fact not an insurance company taxable under section 204, but was merely an agent for an insurance company and subject to tax under section 13.

The stipulation shows that the Ben Franklin Fire Insurance Co. was organized to insure property against loss or damage from fire and certain other causes, as well as to act as agent for other insurance companies to reinsure its risks in other companies in whole or in part, to reinsure other companies and their risks in whole or in part, to do "things which are generally done by fire insurance companies organized under the provisions of the laws of the State of Kentucky, and to do anything needed in the general carrying on of the fire insurance business. The following is quoted from paragraph 13 of the stipulation:

* * * The Ben Franklin Fire Insurance Company issued fire insurance policies, all of which were reinsured by the Insurance Company of North America of Philadelphia, Pa., and its income consisted of commissions on said policies and interest on investments. [Italics supplied.]

The fire insurance company argues that it was merely an agent, since it reinsured all of its risks; “it did not have to maintain a reserve ”; its income can not be computed under section 204; and its income can be fairly computed under section 13. The statement in the stipulation that the company issued fire insurance policies indicates quite clearly that it was an insurer and primarily liable on (he policies which it issued. It was not merely an agent for another company. Reinsurance and the payment of so-called commissions to the original insurer by the reinsurer is not unusual. There is no evidence that it was not required to maintain reserves. The argument that its income can not be computed under section 204 seems vacuous, since its income has been computed to the mutual satisfaction of the parties. Undoubtedly its income, like the income of any other corporation, could be fairly computed under section 13, but since it was an insurance company within the meaning of section 204, it is subject to tax under that section. Cf. National Capital Insurance Co. of the District of Columbia, 28 B. T. A. 1079. The Commissioner did not err in excluding from the consolidated return and taxing separately the income of the Ben Franklin Fire Insurance Co. for 1930.

[269]*269Another issue is whether the Franklin Title & Trust Co. has a right to have its income tax liability for 1929 and 1930 computed upon the basis of a consolidated return in which it would be joined with the Franklin Bond & Mortgage Co. The income of the trust company would be offset by the losses of the mortgage company for these years. A corporation is defined in the revenue act to include an association, and some trusts have been held to be associations taxable as corporations. The petitioner contends that the trust created on February 1, 1925, is an association, is, therefore, a corporation within the meaning of the act, and is a “ parent corporation ” within the meaning of section 141(d).1 The Commissioner has held that the Franklin Title & Trust Co. was not entitled to join with any other corporation in filing a consolidated return for 1929 and 1930. He contends that the trust was not an association taxable as a corporation, therefore, it could not be the “parent corporation” and, consequently, there was no “ affiliated group.” A summary of the stipulated facts relating to this issue appears in the three paragraphs following this one.

A copy of the trust agreement is attached to the stipulation as Exhibit G. It is dated February 1, 1925. The subscribing stockholders of the Franklin Bond & Mortgage Co. (called the mortgage company) and of the Franklin Title & Trust Co. (called the trust company) stated that they were creating the trust estate for the purpose of securing closer cooperation between the mortgage company and the trust company, to further the best interests of the two companies and the stockholders therein. The subscribing stockholders were to assign whatever shares of stock they held in either or both of the companies to five named trustees, who were to hold and manage these shares as a common and indivisible trust fund for the purposes of and in accordance with the trusts provided in the instrument. When shares were thus assigned to the trustees, the latter were to issue to the assignor a “ Trustees Participation Certificate ” showing the number and kind of shares transferred to the trustees and the number of shares in the trust estate to which the assignor was entitled. The stockholders of the mortgage company were to receive two participation shares for every share of mortgage company stock assigned to the trustees. The stockholders of the trust company were to receive one participation share for each share of [270]*270the trust company stock assigned to the trustees. The trustees were not to assume any liability as stockholders. The assignors were not to be relieved of liability as stockholders. The stockholders’ liability was to rest upon the participation certificate holders in the proportion which the share of each in the trust estate bore to the entire trust estate. The trustees could not sell or assign the shares which were assigned to them, except to a newly elected director of one or the other of the companies merely for the purpose of qualifying him during his directorship “ upon the request of the holders of Participation Certificates sufficient in amount to secure his election.” The trust was to continue until the death of the last survivor of the original subscribers and for 21 years thereafter, but it could be terminated on short notice by a vote of three fourths of the certificate holders. Three of the five trustees were designated by the mortgage company stockholders and two by the trust company stockholders.

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Franklin Title & Trust Co. v. Commissioner
32 B.T.A. 266 (Board of Tax Appeals, 1935)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
32 B.T.A. 266, 1935 BTA LEXIS 969, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/franklin-title-trust-co-v-commissioner-bta-1935.