IPO II v. Comm'r

122 T.C. No. 17, 122 T.C. 295, 2004 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 17
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedApril 23, 2004
DocketNo. 14500-02
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 122 T.C. No. 17 (IPO II v. Comm'r) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
IPO II v. Comm'r, 122 T.C. No. 17, 122 T.C. 295, 2004 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 17 (tax 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

Haines, Judge:

Respondent issued a notice of final partnership administrative adjustment (fpaa) to Gerald R. For-sythe, as tax matters partner (tmp) for IPO II, determining adjustments to IPO IFs Federal tax returns for 1998 and 1999 (years in issue). For clarification purposes, we shall refer to Gerald R. Forsythe in his capacity as TMP as petitioner; we shall refer to Gerald R. Forsythe in his capacity as owner of IPO II and the other entities described below as Mr. Forsythe.

After concessions,1 the issue for decision is whether any of the recourse liability incurred by IPO II with respect to the purchase of an aircraft is allocable to Indeck Power Overseas Ltd. (Indeck Overseas).

Background

The parties submitted this case fully stipulated pursuant to Rule 122.2 The stipulation of facts and the attached exhibits are incorporated herein by this reference.

IPO II is a limited liability company organized in 1996 under the Illinois Limited Liability Company Act. At the time the petition was filed, IPO II’s principal place of business was Wheeling, Illinois.

IPO II was treated as a partnership for Federal income tax purposes for the years in issue. The members of IPO II are Mr. Forsythe and Indeck Overseas. Indeck Overseas is an S corporation in which Mr. Forsythe owned 100 percent of the outstanding shares during the years in issue. The members’ interests in the profits and losses of IPO II were allocated during the years in issue, and are currently allocated, as follows: Indeck Overseas, 99 units; Mr. Forsythe, 1 unit.

IPO II’s operating agreement (operating agreement) provides the following, in relevant part:

2.4 Liability to Third Parties. Except as otherwise provided by the Act,
5.3 Liability of Members to the Company. A Member shall be liable to the Company for capital contributions as and to the extent provided by the Act.
ij: if: ‡ }Ji # i};
7.1 Allocations of Profits and Losses. All profits and losses of the Company (which for all purposes of this Agreement shall mean the Company’s net income and net loss as determined for federal income tax purposes) for each fiscal year (or part thereof) shall be allocated to the Members for both financial accounting and income tax purposes in proportion to the number of Units held by each respective Member. Each item of income, gain, loss, deduction, credit or tax preference of the Company entering into the computation of such profits or losses, or applicable to the period during which any such profits or losses were realized, shall be considered allocated between the Members in the same proportion as profits and losses are allocated to each Member. Profits and losses of the Company shall be determined for each fiscal year in accordance with the accounting method followed by the Company for federal income tax purposes, applied in a consistent manner.

Mr. Forsythe also owns 70 percent (i.e., 28 of 40 shares) of the outstanding shares of Indeck Energy Services, Inc. (Indeck Energy). Indeck Energy was a C corporation in 1997 but elected to be treated as an S corporation for the years in issue. The remaining outstanding shares in Indeck Energy (i.e., 12 shares) are owned equally by Mr. Forsythe’s children: Michelle Fawcett, Monica Breslow, Marsha Fournier, and Melissa Forsythe.

Mr. Forsythe also owned 63 percent of the outstanding shares of Indeck Power Equipment Co. (Indeck Power), a C corporation, during the years in issue.

On December 27, 1996, IPO II purchased a Cessna Citation VII aircraft for $9,205,800 and two Garrett Allied Signal engines for $200,375 (collectively, the aircraft) from the Cessna Aircraft Co. The total purchase price of the aircraft (i.e., $9,406,175) was funded by a loan from Nationsbanc Leasing Corp. of North Carolina (Nationsbanc). The loan was evidenced by a secured promissory note dated December 27, 1996, for the total purchase price, executed by IPO II, as obli-gor, to the benefit of Nationsbanc.

To secure the loan, IPO II and Nationsbanc entered into an Aircraft Loan and Security Agreement (the loan and security agreement) on December 27, 1996. The loan and security agreement listed the following parties as “Guarantors” of the loan: Indeck Energy, Indeck Power, and Mr. Forsythe. Indeck Overseas was not listed as a guarantor of the loan.

In connection with the loan, Mr. Forsythe, Indeck Energy, and Indeck Power each entered into a guaranty agreement with Nationsbanc (the Forsythe guaranty, the Indeck Energy guaranty, and the Indeck Power guaranty, respectively). Each guaranty provided in relevant part:

SECTION 1. Guarantee. * * * The Guarantor does hereby unconditionally guarantee to the Secured Party and its successors, endorsees, transferees and assigns, without offset or deduction, the following:
(a) the prompt payment when due, whether by acceleration or otherwise, of all amounts payable by the Debtor pursuant to or under the Security Agreement, the Note and all related agreements (collectively, the “Basic Agreements”)-, * * *
(b) the punctual and faithful performance by Debtor of each and every duty, agreement, covenant and obligation of Debtor under and in accordance with the terms of the Basic Agreements and all other obligations of Debtor to the Secured Party arising under the Basic Agreements or any of the transactions related thereto. The Guarantor does hereby agree that in the event Debtor does not or is unable to pay or perform in accordance with the terms of the Basic Agreements for any reason (including, without limitation, the liquidation, dissolution, receivership, insolvency, bankruptcy, assignment for the benefit of creditors, reorganization, arrangement, composition or readjustment of, or other similar proceedings affecting the status, existence, assets or obligations of Debtor or the limitation of damages for the breach, or the disaffirmance of, any Basic Agreement in such proceeding) it will pay the sums, or amounts equal thereto, which Debtor is (or, but for any such reason, would be) obligated to pay at the times specified in the Basic Agreements, whether by acceleration or otherwise (it being the intention hereof that the Guarantor shall pay to the Secured Party, as a payment obligation directly due from the Guarantor to the Secured Party, amounts equal to all amounts which Debtor shall fail faithfully and properly to pay when due under the Basic Agreements, whether by acceleration or otherwise), or otherwise provide for and bring about promptly when due such payment and the performance of such duties, agreements, covenants and obligations of Debtor under the Basic Agreements.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
122 T.C. No. 17, 122 T.C. 295, 2004 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 17, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ipo-ii-v-commr-tax-2004.