Huyler's v. Commissioner

8 B.T.A. 13, 1927 BTA LEXIS 2963
CourtUnited States Board of Tax Appeals
DecidedSeptember 10, 1927
DocketDocket Nos. 1357, 1445, 1356, 2374, 2373.
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 8 B.T.A. 13 (Huyler's 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
Huyler's v. Commissioner, 8 B.T.A. 13, 1927 BTA LEXIS 2963 (bta 1927).

Opinion

[29]*29OPINION.

Aeunkeix :

We are called upon to determine whether the proven .facts are such that a logical reasoning must lead to the conclusion that “substantially all the stock” of the two Gramercy companies and of Huyler’s was, during the calendar year 1918 and the nine-month period January 1, 1919, to September 30, 1919, “owned or controlled by the same interests,” so as to make the determination of their tax liability a single, rather than a multiple, problem. No question arises here as to the affiliation of the Gramercy Investing Co. of New York, and the Gramercy Investing Co. of Pennsylvania; their affiliation with Huyler’s is the issue which the parties are contesting.

We have already pointed out the definite test laid down by section 240 of the Revenue Act in determining whether or not two or more corporations are affiliated and that it is only by taking into consideration all of the facts and circumstances that a proper conclusion can be reached. In Appeal of Rishell Phonograph Co., 2 B. T. A. 229, we said:

The statute contains three elements which are not free from doubt. It is impossible to define exactly what is meant by controls; no general rule can be made that will fix the percentage necessary to constitute substantially all the stock of a corporation; and the word interests is a term susceptible of several interpretations.
It would be dangerous to attempt to make a strict definition of any one of these doubtful terms to be applied in every case, for the same, reasons that have caused the courts to avoid attempting to define due process of law. If [30]*30a strict and generally applicable definition were practicable, it probably would have been furnished by Congress. The very use of elastic terms indicates an intent to have them construed flexibly in the light of the peculiar circumstances of each particular case.
* * * Circumstances which might indicate control in one case would not necessarily constitute it in another where other circumstances, involving other elements, were at variance.
* * * The extent of the stock necessary to constitute substantially all may well vary according to the degree of control exercised.

Our problem then is to weigh all the evidence and come to a conclusion whether, in all the circumstances, the Gramercy Investing Co. of New York, was affiliated with Huyler’s; since it must follow that whatever our determination may be in this respect it must be the same in the case of the Gramercy Investing Co. of Pennsylvania, whose entire authorized and outstanding capital stock was owned and controlled by the New York company.

All of the capital stock of the Gramercy Investing Co. of New York was owned outright by the three brothers, Frank DeK., David, and Coulter D. Huyler. These same individuals owned directly 11 shares each, a total of 33 shares, or 22 per cent of the stock of Huyler’s, and they held, as trustees under the will of John S. Huyler, an additional 96 shares, or 64 per cent of Huyler’s stock, making in all 86 per cent of the stock of Huyler’s. Under the will of John S. Huyler, the trustees holding this stock of Huyler’s in trust were absolved from every restriction whatsoever with reference to its control, save alone that of dissipating the proceeds from its sale. They were empowered to sell and transfer, in their discretion, all or any part of the securities forming a part of any of the trusts created under the will; to invest and reinvest the proceeds from the sale of such securities; to continue any investment made during the life of the testator; to consent to the increase of the capital stock of any corporation in whose stock the trust funds may be invested; to subscribe for, take, and pay for any portion of the bonds of such corporation ; to consent to the merger or consolidation of such corporation with any other corporation, or to the sale of any part of the property of such corporation. These provisions of the will were made to expressly include the trusteed stock of Huyler’s. The control of the trustees over this stock was absolute. They could exercise every power vested in direct ownership.

Contention is made by the respondent that the three Huyler brothers, in their individual capacities and in their capacity as trustees, were not the “ same interests ” within the purview of the statute. This contention is based upon the respondent’s assumption that David Huyler and his two brothers were at odds over the business policies and management of Huyler’s, as evidenced by David Huyler’s [31]*31failure of reelection to the directorate of Huyler’s, in 1916 or 1917, and the litigation which he instituted against his brothers involving a question as to the interpretation of the will with respect to the voting of the trusteed stock of Huyler’s by the three brothers as trustees. But this is not borne out by the facts. The uncontroverted evidence is that David Huyler was not reelected to the directorate of Huyler’s because of a physical breakdown which incapacitated him to perform the duties of a director or of an officer of the corporation; and that he, believing that under the provisions of the will the trusteed stock of Huyler’s could only be voted by unanimous agreement of the trustees while his two brothers contended that the stock could be voted by a majority of the trustees, instituted litigation for the purpose of securing an interpretation of the provisions of the will relating to the voting of the trusteed stock. The litigation was amicably settled in chambers late in 1918, and an agreement was reached at the same time to restore David Huyler as a director and officer of Huyler’s. If there was any connection between David Huyler’s failure of reelection as a director of Huyler’s and the litigation which he instituted to secure an interpretation of the will, it has not been shown by evidence.

Furthermore, the provisions of the will relating to the voting of shares of stock of any corporation held by the trustees at any time are clear and explicit in providing that such stock “ shall always be voted by them or by their proxies at all corporate meetings as a unit and in case of any differences of opinion among my Executors and Trustees as to the manner in which said stock shall be voted * * * I direct that the decision of a majority of my Executors and Trustees then acting shall be conclusive and shall control * * All cir cumstances considered, we must conclude that 86 per cent of the stock of Huyler’s was owner or controlled by the same interests who owned and controlled all of the authorized and outstanding stock of the Gramercy Investing Co. of New York.

It appears clear that in Huyler’s and the Gramercy Investing Co. of New York, there is a commercial and economic unity. The Gramercy Company was organized by the three Huyler brothers in 1910, and in 1913 they turned over to that company, without any consideration therefor, all of the real properties which had come into their possession through inheritance from their father. At the time these properties Avere turned over to the Gramercy Company, most of them were occupied, and had been so occupied for several years, by Huyler’s. During the years and periods under consideration, three of the properties, 458 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, 1320 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, and 1117 F Street, NorthAvest, Washington, D. C., in each of which the Gramercy Company owned a one-third interest, [32]*32were occupied by Huyler’s under renewal leases dated June 1, 1917.

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Related

Pittsburgh Union Stock Yards Co. v. Commissioner
16 B.T.A. 139 (Board of Tax Appeals, 1929)
Huyler's v. Commissioner
8 B.T.A. 13 (Board of Tax Appeals, 1927)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
8 B.T.A. 13, 1927 BTA LEXIS 2963, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/huylers-v-commissioner-bta-1927.