Hays v. Commissioner

1971 T.C. Memo. 300, 30 T.C.M. 1275, 1971 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 30
United States Tax Court·Decided November 29, 1971·No. Docket No. 3255-68.·Unpublished

Opinion

Harold N. Hays v. Commissioner.
Hays v. Commissioner
Docket No. 3255-68.
United States Tax Court
T.C. Memo 1971-300; 1971 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 30; 30 T.C.M. (CCH) 1275; T.C.M. (RIA) 71300;
November 29, 1971, Filed.
Al S. Woolbert and Donald R. Phillippe, 23 E. 9th, Anderson, Ind., for the petitioner. Charles S. Stroad, for the respondent.

IRWIN

Memorandum Findings of Fact and Opinion

IRWIN, Judge: Respondent*31 determined the following deficiencies in petitioner's income tax and penalties:

Sec. 6653(b)
YearDeficiencyPenalty
1961$11,549.18$5,774.59
196215,247.767,623.88
196312,225.786,112.89
196414,729.567,364.78
1276

After certain concessions by each party, the primary issues for determination are whether petitioner failed to report all of the income earned by his business during the years in question and whether any part of the deficiencies are due to fraud with intent to evade tax. A correlative issue is whether the deficiencies of 1961, 1962, and 1963 are barred by section 6501(a) 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. In addition, petitioner disputes respondent's disallowance of certain claimed deductions for depreciation and of a capital loss carryover.

Findings of Fact

Some of the facts have been stipulated. The stipulation along with the exhibits attached thereto are incorporated herein by this reference.

Petitioner is Harold N. Hays whose legal residence at all relevant times was in Anderson, Ind. Petitioner*32 filed his Federal income tax returns for the calendar years 1961, 1962, 1963, and 1964 with the district director of internal revenue, Indianapolis, Ind. These returns were prepared on the cash method of accounting, except for the use of inventories.

On April 11, 1968, the notice of deficiency for each of the years in issue was mailed pursuant to section 6212.

Beginning in 1946 and at all relevant times thereafter, petitioner was the owner and operator of a business known as The Spa in Anderson, Ind. The Spa was a restaurant and tavern which sold food, packaged alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and related goods.

The business records and books with respect to the operation of The Spa were maintained by Harry Blowers, who is associated with Kenneth E. Blowers and Associates, an accounting firm in Anderson, Ind. These records were kept on a single entry basis.

Neither Harry Blowers nor any other member of the accounting firm had access to the raw data indicating business receipts and expenses. Each month petitioner submitted to his accountant for posting a piece of paper containing the daily receipts and daily paid out slips. The daily paid out slips included invoices and notations*33 on slips of paper indicating the expenses for which no invoice was attached. Notations were made on these materials to indicate whether the expenses were paid by cash or check. The materials submitted were in petitioner's handwriting. The accountants did not use the cancelled checks, check stubs, or statements from petitioner's checking account in the preparation of petitioner's business records or his tax returns.

At various times when the petitioner was not in Anderson, Ind., during the years 1961 through 1964, Robert Snoddy managed The Spa. Mr. Snoddy also managed The Spa when the petitioner was in Florida during the following periods:

YearPeriod
1961March 13 through May 1
1962January 15 through April 30
1963January 7 through April 29
1964January 13 through May 25
When petitioner was in Florida, Mr. Snoddy mailed the records concerning the daily operation of The Spa to petitioner once a week.

A "change fund" of at least $3,000 was maintained on the premises of The Spa at all times. During all the years at issue, petitioner maintained a checking account at the Anderson Banking Company. After retaining $3,000 for the change fund, weekly deposits*34 were made at the bank which were credited to petitioner's checking account. Petitioner expended from gross sales receipts certain amounts for business expenses and other items before making his bank deposits.

The Spa occasionally cashed payroll checks by utilizing the cash receipts or change fund. Generally, the payroll checks thus cashed would be taken to the bank and exchanged for cash thereby insuring a continuous fund of cash in the change fund. With very few exceptions, the bank deposits consisted largely of cash, and nearly all of the deposits contained some cash.

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Hays v. Commissioner, 1971 T.C. Memo. 300, 30 T.C.M. 1275, 1971 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 30 (tax 1971).

1971 T.C. Memo. 300 (Hays v. Commissioner) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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