Gage Bros. & Co. v. Commissioner

13 T.C. 472, 1949 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 72
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedSeptember 30, 1949
DocketDocket No. 17273
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 13 T.C. 472 (Gage Bros. & 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
Gage Bros. & Co. v. Commissioner, 13 T.C. 472, 1949 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 72 (tax 1949).

Opinion

OPINION.

OppeR, Judge-.

We are indebted to petitioner’s counsel for a summary of the issues, which, as an aid to simplification of both the consideration and the discussion of the complicated questions involved, we quote in full:

la summary, the petitioner’s argument presents the following solutions to the court:
1. The petitioner and Old Gage are in fact and under the express language of the Illinois statute, pursuant to which the merger was accomplished in 1936, a single entity and the equity invested capital of the petitioner in the computation of its excess profits tax liability in issue is $402,521.00. If the court so holds, the solutions presented in Párts III, [paragraph 2, inft a] IV [paragraph 3, infra] and V [paragraph 4, ira/ra] of the argument need not be considered.
2. If the court holds that the petitioner and Old Gage were not the same taxpayer and that the petitioner acquired its assets in the 1936 transaction, the petitioner maintains that that transaction was a tax-free exchange within the provisions of Section 112 (b) (5) and that under Section 113 (a) (8) the basis of the property to the petitioner in determining the value of property paid in for stock is the basis thereof to the transferors, to-wit, the Old Gage stockholders and Slocum. If the court so holds, the equity invested capital of the petitioner is $227,644.04.
3. Regardless of the determination of the applicable basis in computing the value under Section 718 (a) (2) of property paid in to the petitioner, there must be included in petitioner’s equity invested capital, under Section 718 (a) (7), the sum of $338,311.00 constituting the deficit in earnings and profits of Old Gage. If the court so holds, consideration of Part V of the argument is unnecessary.
4. If the court should reject all of the above solutions advanced by the petitioner and sustain the theory of the Commissioner in using 1936 values, then the' court must determine the value of Old Gage good will which was transferred to the petitioner in the 1936 reorganization. The petitioner submits that this value is $250,000.00 and that the equity invested capital allowed by the Commissioner at $68,173.05 should be increased to $318,173.05.
5. The Commissioner erred in disallowing the long-term capital loss sustained by the petitioner upon the receipt in 1942 of a final liquidating dividend on 140 shares of capital stock of Indiana-IUinois Coal Corporation.

We shall deal with the issues in that order.

L

Petitioner’s contention that it is the same corporation as its predecessor and hence entitled to compute its equity invested capital as though it were itself the old company, requires rejection for a number of reasons.

First, the premise for this approach is confined to the language of the Illinois merger statute. We can not view as decisive the varying provisions of local corporate enactments when applying a Nationwide system of corporate taxation. See Burnet v. Harmel, 287 U. S. 103. The very argument made here that the essential continuance of the corporate existence should take no account of inconsequential changes in form is the legislative justification for such ameliorative provisions as sections 112, 718 (a) (2), and 740. See, e. g., LeTulle v. Scofield, 308 U. S. 415; Sigmund Neustadt Trust, 43 B. T. A. 848; affd. (C. C. A., 2d Cir.), 131 Fed. (2d) 528. Section 112 (i) itself expressly includes a “statutory merger” in the description of corporate changes to which it is intended to apply. See also sections 718 (c) (4) and 761 (f). This must mean a merger under a state statute, and hence would either be unnecessary or applicable with varying effects from state to state if petitioner’s contention were sound.

Secondly, the parties themselves treated the corporations as different, see Interstate Transit Lines v. Commissioner, 319 U. S. 590, and for that reason if for no other we should reject the effort to do otherwise now. See New Colonial Ice Co. v. Helvering, 292 U. S. 435. The contemporaneous tax returns for the old and new companies show that for income tax purposes they were viewed as predecessor and successor. It is difficult to see why they should not be similarly treated for excess profits tax purposes, particularly when section 728 provides that “the terms used in this subchapter shall have the same meaning as when used in Chapter 1” and section 729 provides for all chapter 1 (income tax) provisions of law to be applicable to excess profits taxes.1

Contrary to petitioner’s present statement, these same tax returns indicate that the old company was “dissolved.” It is even to be questioned whether, if a simple continuation of Old Gage had sufficed, the parties would have undertaken the tedious processes of forming the new company, effectuating the merger, dissolving the old company, and then changing the new company’s name. If these steps were necessary or even useful, we should not disregard them now. Moline Properties, Inc. v. Commissioner, 319 U. S. 436. “* * * the mere fact that the corporate existence * * * was continued is not controlling. The gain [to a stockholder] * * * was represented by shares with essentially different characteristics in an essentially different corporation * * United States v. Siegel (C. C. A., 8th Cir.), 52 Fed. (2d) 63; certiorari denied, 284 U. S. 679.

In the third place, we search the applicable provision (section 718) in vain for any suggestion that the equity invested capital of merged corporations is to be computed as though both corporations still exist. Assuming only one survived, we have no statutory guide as to which was the survivor and which the deceased. If the old company survived, there was no need for a change of name, which the parties took pains to accomplish. And if it was the new company, it is manifest its history had only begun. This consideration suffices to distinguish Stanton Brewery, Inc. v. Commissioner (C. A., 2d Cir.), 176 Fed. (2d) 573, reversing 11 T. C. 310, which deals with different statutory language and an altogether unrelated legislative device.

But we think the most cogent reason for disallowing petitioner’s first claim is the demonstration that the excess profits tax provisions themselves spell out in detail how such a transaction as that now in question should be treated. Cf. North Jersey Quarry Co., 13 T. C. 194. Where there are such unmistakable directions by the Federal Legislature as to the effect of a transaction for Federal tax purposes, we need look no further in arriving at the correct result. Burnet v. Harmel, sufra; see Alexander C. Yarnall, 9 T. C. 616; affirmed per curiam (G. A. 3d Cir.), 170 Fed. (2d) 272. This brings us to petitioner’s second contention.

II.

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Gage Bros. & Co. v. Commissioner
13 T.C. 472 (U.S. Tax Court, 1949)

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Bluebook (online)
13 T.C. 472, 1949 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 72, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gage-bros-co-v-commissioner-tax-1949.