Hudson v. Commissioner

39 B.T.A. 1075, 1939 BTA LEXIS 935
CourtUnited States Board of Tax Appeals
DecidedMay 25, 1939
DocketDocket No. 54774.
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 39 B.T.A. 1075 (Hudson 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
Hudson v. Commissioner, 39 B.T.A. 1075, 1939 BTA LEXIS 935 (bta 1939).

Opinion

[1090]*1090OPINION.

Kern:

The respondent in determining the deficiencies herein treated the exchange of stock in 1922 and the exchange of Sylphon Co. stock for Reynolds Co. stock in 1928 as nontaxable exchanges. He also treated the transactions completed in 1927 between the stockholders of the Fulton Co., the Sylphon Co. and Barney & Co. as a statutory reorganization, the gain realized therefrom being recognizable under section 203 (d) (1) of the Revenue Act of 1926 “in an amount not in excess of the sum of such money” received in the exchange. In his answer to the second amended petition the respondent affirmatively alleges that the transaction whereby the petitioner received cash and Sylphon Cb. stock for his Fulton Co. stock was a sale consummated in accordance with the stockholders’ agreement with Barney & Co. and the escrow agreement, and that therefore all the gain is recognizable. He contends that the steps taken in carrying out the plan were inseparable and constituted the consummation of one indivisible contract, the underlying purpose and result of which was the sale by the stockholders of the Fulton Co. of their stock for $5,000,000, as originally contemplated by the [1091]*1091option given the Reynolds Metal Co., namely, that the earlier stock of the Fulton Co. was purchased by Barney & Co. as agent or manager of a syndicate, of which it was a member, for cash and shares of stock of the Sylphon Co., and that the entire amount of the gain is recognizable under the general rule set forth in section 203 (a) of the Revenue Act of 1926.2 He claims an increased deficiency.

The petitioner contends that there were two separate transactions, i. e., (1) an exchange by the stockholders of the Fulton Co. of all their stock for 15,000 shares preferred and 120,000 shares common stock of the Sylphon Co., constituting a nontaxable reorganization under sections 203 (b) (2), (h) (1) (A), and (h) (2) of the Revenue Act of 1926,3 and (2) a sale by the former stockholders of the Fulton Co. of 100,000 shares of the common stock of the Sylphon Co. to Barney & Co. for $2,790,000, the amount of the gain realized or the loss sustained on such sale depending upon the determination of the March 1, 1913, value of the Fulton Co. stock.

Whether the various steps taken to carry out the agreement herein constitute one transaction or two separate and distinct transactions is a question of fact. Commissioner v. Harris, 92 Fed. (2d) 374; Helvering v. Ward, 79 Fed. (2d) 381.

It is our opinion that what was done herein must be regarded for income tax purposes as a single transaction and that as such it constituted a reorganization under clause A of section 203 (h) (1) of the Revenue Act of 1926.

The Fulton Co. and Sylphon Co. were each a “party to a reorganization” under section 203 (h) (2) of the 1926 Act, which provides that such term includes “both corporations in the case of an acquisition by one corporation of at least a majority of the voting stock * * * of another corporation.” The Sylphon Co. acquired all of the outstanding stock of the Fulton Co. In Groman v. Commissioner, 302 U. S. 82, the United States Supreme Court, referring to section 112 (i) (2) of the 1928 Act, corresponding to section [1092]*1092208 (h) (2) of the 1926 Act, stated tbat that section “is not a definition but rather is intended to enlarge the connotation of the term £a party to a reorganization’ to embrace corporations whose relation to the transaction would not in common usage be so denominated or as to whose status doubt might otherwise arise.” Barney & Co. was not a party to the reorganization effected. That a party not a party to the reorganization effected was instrumental in bringing about such reorganization by furnishing the cash is not material under the circumstances herein. In Groman v. Commissioner, supra, the Glidden Co. entered into an agreement with the stockholders of the Metals Befining Co., pursuant to which the assets of the latter were transferred to a newly organized company, and the stockholders of the Metals Befining Co. received in exchange for their stock shares of preferred stock of the Glidden Co., shares of preferred stock of the new company, and cash, which cash had been paid by the Glidden Co. to the new company for all of its common stock. In that case the United States Supreme Court stated:

The exchange was between Indiana’s [Metals Refining Co.] shareholders and Ohio [new company]. Do the facts that Glidden contracted for the exchange and made it possible by subscribing and paying for Ohio’s common stock in cash, so that Ohio could consummate the exchange, render Glidden a party to the reorganization? No more so than if a banking corporation had made the agreement with Indiana’s shareholders and had organized the new corporation, and, by subscription to its stock and payment therefor in money and the banking company’s stock put the new company in position to complete the exchange. Not every corporate broker, promoter, or agent which enters into a written agreement, effectuating a reorganization, as defined in the Revenue Act, thereby becomes a party to the reorganization.

It was held therein that a reorganization was effected under section 112(i) (1) (A) of the Bevenue Act of 1928 by the transfer of all the stock of the Metals Befining Co. to the new company. The Court further held that, since the Glidden Co. was not a party to the reorganization, the gain realized by the taxpayer, a stockholder of the Metals Befining Co., on the reorganization was taxable under section 112(b) (5), (c) of the 1928 Act to the extent of the cash and the fair market value of the Glidden Co. stock received by him.

To constitute a reorganization within clause A, the dissolution of the Fulton Co. was not necessary. Helvering v. Minnesota Tea Co., 296 U. S. 378; G. & K. Manufacturing Co. v. Helvering, 296 U. S. 389. A large part of the consideration may be cash. G. & K. Manufacturing Co. v. Helvering, supra; Helvering v. Minnesota Tea Co., supra; Nelson Co. v. Helvering, 296 U. S. 374; and Western Power Corporation, 34 B. T. A. 618; affd., 94 Fed. (2d) 563. Participation in the management, and the acquisition of a controlling interest, in the acquiring corporation is not requisite under clause A. Nelson [1093]*1093Co. v. Helvering, supra. The interest of the stockholders of the Fulton Co. acquired in the Sylphon Co, was definite and material and represented a substantial part of the value of the thing transferred. See Nelson Co. v. Helvering, supra, wherein the stockholders of a corporation transferred all the corporation’s assets except cash in exchange for cash and preferred stock of the acquiring corporation. The United States Supreme Court therein held that the £<owner of preferred stock is not without substantial interest in the affairs of the issuing corporation, although denied voting rights.” The stockholders of the Fulton Co. were entitled to receive all of the preferred stock of the Sylphon Co.

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39 B.T.A. 1075, 1939 BTA LEXIS 935, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hudson-v-commissioner-bta-1939.