Hornback v. United States

298 F. Supp. 977, 23 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1401, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12711
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Missouri
DecidedApril 14, 1969
Docket16134-4
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 298 F. Supp. 977 (Hornback v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hornback v. United States, 298 F. Supp. 977, 23 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1401, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12711 (W.D. Mo. 1969).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ELMO B. HUNTER, District Judge.

This is an action brought by Rose G. Hornback, a resident of Parkville, Missouri, to recover income tax and interest she claims was illegally assessed and collected by the District Director of Internal Revenue. Jurisdiction is conferred by Section 1346(a) (1) of Title 28, United States Code.

In Count I of her complaint plaintiff claims the Director of Revenue erroneously determined she failed to report as taxable income for the year 1959 the sum of $4,219.95, her alleged proportionate share of net profits realized from the operations of a trailer court, service station and ice sales. She asserts she was not in a partnership with her husband; had no interest in the mentioned net proceeds or in the business ventures *978 of her then husband Glenn C. Hornback, and received no taxable income therefrom. She states all such income was earned and received by Glenn C. Horn-back.

In Count II of her complaint plaintiff claims the Director of Revenue erroneously determined that in 1960 she had failed to report the sum of $2,631.56 as her alleged proportionate share of net profits realized from the mentioned operations of a trailer court, service station, ice sales; and, further, erroneously determined she had received a taxable long-term capital gain from a property settlement in a divorce proceeding. The tax on this alleged capital gain was assessed and collected from her with interest and penalty in the total sum of $4,552.77. The case was tried to the Court without a jury.

Background of Tax Dispute: From the evidence adduced at the trial the following facts are found by the Court to have been established: Rose and Glenn Hornback were married on December 31, 1942. Prior to this marriage Mrs. Horn-back, who possessed an 8th grade education, had obtained no business experience other than baby sitting. She had accumulated no assets of any consequence. Mr. Hornback, who also had accumulated little of consequence, was operating a rented filling station-grocery and sold ice and coal. After their marriage Mr. Hornback continued to operate these businesses. They first lived in a little two-room cabin behind the filling station. In another little cabin lived “Pop” who helped in the service station work. Apparently from the profits of these businesses from time to time over the years he purchased in a total of five transactions a number of small parcels of land, including that upon which the filling station-grocery was located, as well as the immediate surrounding area so that one large parcel of land resulted. Title was taken in the joint names of the Hombacks, as husband and wife. She did not ask that it be taken in their joint names; he just decided to do it that way. She did sign the notes that were a part of the purchase price, as did he. Some $11,000 was still owed on these notes at the time of their divorce. It is agreed that under Missouri law they held title to the real estate as tenants by the entirety.

The mentioned tracts of land had been acquired by 1954. By then Mr. and Mrs. Hornback had moved from the small cabin behind the service station to a small house located on one of the purchased tracts, and the cabin was rented out. The purchased land had upon it several additional cabins, a few trailers, and was marked off for trailer and trailer space rental. The trailer space was sufficient for the parking of forty-eight trailers. Mr. Hornback fitted the trailer space for such rental by making available the usual gas and electrical facilities and by himself providing garbage disposal service.

Mr. Hornback each day worked from about 5:30 a. m. until late evening, usually about 10:00 or 11:00 p. m. He divided his time between the ice route, the coal business, the filling station business, the trailer and trailer space rental business, as well as a few other things. 1 He had a tractor-trailer to haul coal, two ice trucks, an oil truck, one for septic tank use, and a dump truck to haul gravel. At the trailer court he furnished fuel oil, bottled gas, read the electric meters, serviced to some extent the septic tanks, hauled trash, and performed a multitude of other assorted tasks as might need to be done to operate the trailer court.

Mrs. Hornback, by comparison, testified she spent “very few hours” in connection with any of these businesses. Excluding Saturdays the number of such hours totaled “less than five” per week. These consisted of such things as when her husband was away of occasionally answering the phone at the house and/or filling station, and waiting on (in limited *979 fashion) 2 customers at the filling station, taking telephone messages for her husband and upon limited occasions (generally in her husband’s absence) showing a trailer or trailer space to a prospective tenant who was there inquiring about it. Most of them preferred to see her husband and she would direct them to return when he was home. On Saturdays which was rent day she spent several additional hours taking the bills owed by each tenant at the trailer court, which had been totaled by Mr. Hornback, and collecting them. He kept all the records. She spent no time in the business office and had no key to it in 1959-60. The check books to the bank accounts were kept there except for a check book to a personal account.

By 1959 they were living in the Elberdt trailer, which was 41 feet long, 8 feet wide and contained two bedrooms, a small living room, kitchen and bathroom. She had a personal phone listed as “Rose Hornback”. There was also a business phone listed as “Hornback Service Station.” If he was away and it rang she generally answered it. They usually wanted to talk to her husband and she would tell them to call back later for him. Later in 1959 as their personal relationship drifted, she would let the business phone ring, and he just had it taken out. He preferred to talk to prospective tenants, so she customarily had them return or telephone when he was at home.

Mrs. Hornback testified she had never intended to participate with her husband in business on a partnership basis. They never discussed their business relationship. They never filed a partnership income tax return. No social security payments were ever made to the Government for her during the marriage. She considered herself to be just a housewife who in that relationship occasionally helped her husband, but not as a business partner.

Mr. Hornback testified that “the entire operation was to me as a team”, a husband and wife team. “I believe I would call it a partnership.” He stated she helped him by answering the telephone, sometimes helping with customers if no one else was there to do it. She helped on occasion to show trailers and trailer space and to collect rent. The ice business was a minor one and the service station by 1959 “was a loser”. She accepted all C.O.D. packages in his absence and paid for them.

All through the years in question Mr. Hornback had two or three employees helping in the business. He “discussed” these employees with her. He himself worked a seven day week from early morning until late in the evening. He gave Mrs. Hornback $50.00 each week for her expenses such as food, gasoline for her car and for spending money.

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Related

Pennington v. Commissioner
1990 T.C. Memo. 446 (U.S. Tax Court, 1990)
Pokusa v. Commissioner
1978 T.C. Memo. 93 (U.S. Tax Court, 1978)
Showalter v. Commissioner
1974 T.C. Memo. 40 (U.S. Tax Court, 1974)
Beth W. Corporation v. United States
350 F. Supp. 1190 (S.D. Florida, 1972)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
298 F. Supp. 977, 23 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1401, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12711, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hornback-v-united-states-mowd-1969.