Gemological Institute of America, Inc. v. Riddell

149 F. Supp. 128, 50 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 1915, 1957 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3836
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedFebruary 20, 1957
Docket19795
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 149 F. Supp. 128 (Gemological Institute of America, Inc. v. Riddell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gemological Institute of America, Inc. v. Riddell, 149 F. Supp. 128, 50 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 1915, 1957 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3836 (S.D. Cal. 1957).

Opinion

YANKWICH, Chief Judge.

The above-entitled cause heretofore tried, argued and submitted, is now decided as follows:

Upon the grounds stated in the comments to follow, Judgment will be for the defendant that plaintiff take nothing.

Formal Findings and Judgment to be prepared by counsel for the Government under Local Rule 7. West’s Ann.Cal. Code.

Comment.

I. Relating To All Cases: Liability For Tax

' Separate actions have been brought by the plaintiff to recover alleged overpayment of income tax for the years from 1948 to 1954 as follows:

1948 $ 9,880.01
1949 26,719.81
1950 16,003.64
1951 53,863.72
1953 20,314.31
1954 2,603.42

Some special issues are raised as to some of the years. These will be specifically referred to in Part III of each memorandum to be filed in the separate cases. See Appendix A, at end, for full findings in which the facts are set out more specifically.

The object of this memorandum, to be filed in this case and referred to in all others, is to determine whether the plaintiff is exempt from taxation for the year 1954 under Section 501(c) (3) of the 1954 Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S. C.A. § 501(e) (3), and for the prior years under Section 101(6) of the 1939 Code, 26 U.S.C.A. § 101(6).

The basis for exemption is the claim that the institution was exempt as a non-profit institution “organized and operated exclusively for * * * educational purposes” under Section 101(6) of the 1939 Internal Revenue Code, and the similar provision of Section 501(c) (3) of the 1954 Internal Revenue Code. For the years 1944, 1945 and 1946, its character as such an institution was denied by the Tax Court, [See, Gemological Institute of America v. Commissioner, 1952, 17 T.C. 1604] the decision being affirmed in a per curiam memorandum by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. See, Gemological Institute of America v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 9 Cir., 1954, 212 F.2d 205.

Without considering this decision as determinative of the issue as to the years before us, it is well to start with it in order to determine whether the character of the institution was changed in subsequent years. Before doing so, we advert to the fact that the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has declined to follow what is known as “the ultimate destination” of the taxpayer’s profits as the test in these cases, as that test was laid down by the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Roche’s Beach, Inc., v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 2 Cir., 1938, 96 F.2d 776. To the contrary, they have held repeatedly and consistently that the existence of exemption is to be determined by the nature of the particular institution with the view to ascertain whether the institu *130 tion was organized exclusively for educational purposes. Squire v. Students’ Book Corp., 1951, 9 Cir., 191 F.2d 1018, 1020-1021; Ralph H. Eaton Foundation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 9 Cir., 1955, 219 F.2d 527, 528-529; John Danz Charitable Trust v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 9 Cir., 1955, 231 F.2d 673, 676; Randall Foundation, Inc., v. Riddell, 9 Cir., - F.2d -•. And see, United States v. Community Services, 4 Cir., 1951, 189 F.2d 421, the reasoning of which is approved in Ralph H. Eaton Foundation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, supra, 219 F.2d at page 529. See also, Wm. L. Powell Foundation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 1953, 21 T.C. 279; Smyth v. California State Automobile Association, 9 Cir., 1949, 175 F.2d 752; Le Savoy Foundation v. Commissioner, 1956, 25 T.C. 924.

The nature of the corporation is described in the opinion in the Tax Court case. It has not been changed. It evidently conducts classes, sells books, of most of which the founder of the institution, Robert M. Shipley, is the author, has acquired patents to instruments which it sells to students and those interested in the science of gemmology. The only change which has occurred since the year 1946, is that an agreement was entered into by the plaintiff and Shipley on June 30, 1948, whereby, in lieu of the salary and of the 50 per cent of the profits provided in the previous agreement, he agreed to receive $19,000 per year. On March 29, 1952, this agreement was terminated and he was voted a special severance pay of $10,000 per year until a total of $60,000 was paid to him, the first payment on the execution of this agreement. In addition to this, he was to receive royalties upon the books published by him and on the instruments to which he had patents. He was to render no services in exchange for this severance pay, but he was not to engage in similar activities with others for five years. While the agreement recites that differences have arisen as to compensation, it is quite evident that the attempted change in relationship was motivated by the decision of the Tax Court dated two days before, March 27, 1952, declaring the corporation not to be an educational institution because of the diversion of a large percentage of its profits to an individual.

Granted that the institution has graduated students who seek to maintain the high ethical standards of the gemmology profession, I am of the view that it cannot qualify as a non-profit institution exclusively engaged in educational purposes as those words are construed by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the decisions already cited. See also, Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Orton, 6 Cir., 1949, 173 F.2d 483. A good portion of its profits has always been, and were in the taxable years, devoted to the remuneration of Mr. Shipley. And, even considering the fact that, as of today, business executives are compensated in a munificent manner, the contracts entered into in 1948 and 1952, the first providing for the compensation at the rate of $19,000 a year plus royalties, and the other awarding him a retirement pay of $60,000 to be paid over a period of six years, were not mere contracts for excessive compensation, but were characteristic of an enterprise that is conducted as a commercial enterprise for the greater benefit of one person. The fact that well-meaning persons engaged in the jewelry trade like James G.

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149 F. Supp. 128, 50 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 1915, 1957 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3836, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gemological-institute-of-america-inc-v-riddell-casd-1957.