John K. Teaford v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

246 F.2d 73, 51 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 831, 1957 U.S. App. LEXIS 5056
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedJune 7, 1957
Docket11884_1
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 246 F.2d 73 (John K. Teaford v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
John K. Teaford v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 246 F.2d 73, 51 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 831, 1957 U.S. App. LEXIS 5056 (7th Cir. 1957).

Opinion

FINNEGAN, Circuit Judge.

This appeal presents the question, cutting across five cases heard and consolidated by the tax court, of when a sale transaction is considered consummated for tax purposes. Holding the sale of the partnership interests involved not to have been closed in 1943, the tax court found adversely to appellants on their several petitions tendering issues based on deficiencies and overpayments in income and victory tax for the calendar years 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1945.

Some stipulated facts, parol and documentary evidence introduced during the tax court proceedings, comprise the record and our version of the salient facts is drawn from those sources and the tax court’s memorandum decision, John K. Teaford, et al. v. Commissioner, 14 T.C.M. 1052, CCH Dec. 21, 251 (M) T.C. Memo. 1955-265. All of the agreements mentioned by the tax court and ourselves are part of the record in this appeal.

John K. Teaford, Seleen Teaford, Trustees of the Joan Kay Teaford Irrevocable Trust, and Seleen Teaford, Trustee of the Shirley Lee Teaford Irrevocable Trust, *74 entered into a partnership agreement on January 2, 1943 with Danches Brothers Company, a partnership, Abe Danches, Robert E. Teaford, Sara K. Tibbets, Wealthy Westfall, Christa M. Stentzel and Cyril E. Teaford; among other things this agreement provided that John K. Teaford would contribute $84,200.88 and would receive or bear 15% of the profits or losses of the partnership; and that Seleen Teaford, Trustee of the Joan Kay Teaford Trust would contribute $28,066.96 and would receive or bear 5% of the profits or losses of the partnership; and that Seleen Teaford, Trustee of the Shirley Lee Teaford Trust would contribute $28,066.96 and would receive or bear 5% of the profits or losses of the partnership.

That partnership continued on under the partnership agreement and on August 1, 1943, John K. Teaford conveyed by deed of gift two-thirds of his interest in the partnership in the following manner:

To Joan K. Teaford Irrevocable Trust No. 2, 31/3% interest in the Teaford, Danches and Company partnership;

To Shirley Lee Teaford Irrevocable Trust No. 2, 3%% interest in the Tea-ford, Danches and Company partnership;

To Seleen Teaford Trust, 3%% interest in the Teaford, Danches and Company partnership.

This left John K. Teaford with a 5% interest in the Teaford, Danches and Company partnership, and the partnership continued on under the same operation as it had in the agreement dated January 2, 1943.

On November 6, 1943, all of the partners in the Teaford, Danches and Company entered into a memorandum agreement for the “sale” of the interest owned by John K. Teaford, Robert E. Teaford, C. E. Teaford, Sara Tibbets, Wealthy Westfall, Christa Stentzel, Shirley Lee Teaford Irrevocable Trust, Shirley Lee Teaford Irrevocable Trust No. 2, Joan K. Teaford Irrevocable Trust, Joan K. Teaford Irrevocable Trust No. 2, and Seleen Teaford Trust to Abe Danches, Ralph Danches, George Danches, Ethel Danches Weston, and Danches Brothers Company.

When the document dated November 6, 1943, was signed, Teaford, Danches and Company, owed $4,985,051.85 to the First National Bank in St. Louis. Under direct examination John K. Teaford related that Bank’s attitude and the subsequent critical events.

“I think possibly even the following day, but within a matter of a very few days following this sale, Mr. Danches and myself went to the First National Bank in St. Louis, where we were very heavy borrowers, and where I kept a constant contact daily, and sat with officers of that institution and explained our action. And in fact, presented a copy, or the original of the agreement in which we had entered to effect this sale and purchase. The officers of the bank were quite alarmed at this situation because, first of all, they had depended upon me almost entirely to manage things in this company to their satisfaction, and I feel correct in saying that they had depended upon me more than anyone else for the repayment of the loans.
“So their first step was to examine the memorandum of agreement to which we had entered, and their Legal Department called us back down to the bank very soon thereafter and explained to us that they just would not permit us to take the steps that seemed to he anticipated in this agreement because it, in their opinion, put us in violation of a very large loan agreement under which we were operating with the bank, or the opinion that we were also in violation of our contracts for supplying the product to the Commodity Credit Corporation, which was our one customer. (Italics added.)
“I remember further that the bank was very adamant in their stand on this and even to the point of declaring that they would not even discuss *75 it with us, that we were going to have to comply with their wishes or they would immediately foreclose their loans. And the situation was stated in just those words. So it was proposed by their counsel, their legal counsel, that he, his office draw an agreement which would convey the substance of what we had included in ours, plus the protective features which they insisted upon, and that was done and presented to us for signing and we did execute it. (Italics supplied.)
“Q. Now, after November 6, was there any disruption of the business operations of Teaford, Danches and Company? A. No, there was no disruption of any nature whatsoever.
“Q. And after November 6, did you give up your connection with the company? A. I remained with the company under an agreement for a limited period of time, in compliance with that agreement, but actually I had very little to do with the management.
“Q. Were you paid for your services to the partnership up and above any income you received from your partnership interest? A. Yes, indeed I was. I was paid a flat salary.
“Q. How much was that salary? A. Twelve thousand dollars per year.
“Q. So that you were paid twelve thousand dollars a year for the services that you rendered to the company? A. Yes, I was.
“Q. Now, did the company liquidate after this sale? A. No, sir, there was no liquidation of any nature whatsoever. They continued to operate in identically the same manner that they had always operated, and, in fact, for approximately six months after this sale operated not only in the same manner, but under the same name, under the same printed checks and letterheads and few friends of mine even knew that we were not connected with that business after the sale.”

The upshot of the banker’s views produced an agreement dated November 18, 1943 embodying these significant and inescapable provisions:

“Section 1.
“The partnership of Teaford, Danches & Co., as now constituted shall continue until the First National Bank in St. Louis, Missouri shall in its uncontrolled discretion consent to the dissolution of the partnership, or until all of the indebtedness of said partnership to said First National Bank in Si. Louis, shall have been paid,

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246 F.2d 73, 51 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 831, 1957 U.S. App. LEXIS 5056, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/john-k-teaford-v-commissioner-of-internal-revenue-ca7-1957.