Johnson v. Commissioner

42 T.C. 441, 1964 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 99
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedMay 27, 1964
DocketDocket No. 89835
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 42 T.C. 441 (Johnson v. Commissioner) 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
Johnson v. Commissioner, 42 T.C. 441, 1964 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 99 (tax 1964).

Opinion

OPINION

Scott, Judge:

Respondent determined a deficiency in petitioners’ income tax in the amount of $4,513.16 for the calendar year 1956.

Certain issues raised by the pleadings have been disposed of by agreement of the parties, leaving for our decision the following:

Whether the amount of the excess of cost consisting of direct labor, material, and overhead allocation over sales price of certain specific sales made by Edwin H. Johnson and Harriet Blu Johnson to the wholly owned corporation of Edwin H. Johnson, whose estate is the other petitioner herein, may be used to reduce other income, or as a deduction from income by petitioners.

All of the facts have been stipulated and are found accordingly.

Edwin H. Johnson and Harriet Blu Johnson were during the calendar year 1956 husband and wife residing in Dayton, Ohio. They filed a joint Federal income tax return for the calendar year 1956 with the district director of internal revenue at Cincinnati, Ohio.

Edwin H. Johnson died on April 19, 1962, after the filing of the petition in this case, and Harriet Blu Johnson was appointed as executrix of his estate.

Edwin H. Johnson (hereinafter referred to as Edwin) and Harriet Blu J ohnson (hereinafter referred to as Harriet) were married in the spring of 1954.

Harriet inherited a machine shop located in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., from her first husband, who had died during the year 1953. This machine shop had been operated by Harriet’s first husband up until the time of his death and its operation was "suspended from that time until November 15, 1955, at which time Edwin and Harriet recommenced operations.

This operation was an individual proprietorship under the name H.E.K. Tool and Manufacturing Co. (hereinafter referred to as H.E.K.), producing machine tools.

At all times here material, Edwin was a sole shareholder in Jandor, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as Jandor), an Ohio corporation engaged in a metal stamping business in Dayton, Ohio.

During the year 1956 Jandor obtained approximately 80 orders from various of its customers which orders totaled $33,991.93. After receiving each order Jandor placed an order with H.E.K. and H.E.K. performed the work required on the order. When its work was completed, H.E.K. shipped the completed order and sent Jandor an invoice for each completed order. Jandor then sent its own invoice to the customer.

Of the orders placed by. Jandor with H.E.K. and invoiced by H.E.K. to Jandor when the order was completed and shipped, 46 of the transactions resulted in a loss to H.E.K. computed by the excess of cost of direct labor, material, and overhead incurred by H.E.K. over H.E.K.’s selling price to Jandor in the total amount of $10,675.10, and the balance of the orders resulted in an excess of sales price over costs of direct labor, material, and overhead allocation in the amount of $4,655.33. The total sales price of Jandor’s orders to H.E.K. was $32,227.96.

During the year 1956, H.E.K. completed 15 orders to others than Jandor and had total receipts of $2,001.37 from these orders and total costs of direct labor, material, and overhead of $2,555.78 resulting in an excess of costs of these items over receipts of $554.41.

Edwin and Harriet on their joint income tax return for the year 1956 showed as a reduction in arriving at their taxable income a loss in tbe amount of $12,117.44 from tbe operation of H.E.K., which loss was computed as follows:

Sales _ $34,131.22
Production costs:
Material, freight, etc- $9, 625. 78
Direct labor- 13,677.13
-- $23, 302.91
Factory burden:
Indirect labor_ 1,489. 65
Factory supplies- 2, 804.47
Repair and maintenance_ 270.30
Payroll taxes- 1,092.68
Other taxes and licenses- 827.83
Utilities_ 605.78
Insurance_ 710. 79
Depreciation- 3, 337. 86
■-- 11, 039. 36
- 34,342.27
Gross profit or loss- (211.05)
Administrative expenses- 11, 906.39
Profit or loss--- (12,117.44)

Respondent in his notice of deficiency increased petitioners’ income by $11,695.11 with the following explanation:

(b) It bas been determined that losses in the amount of $10,845.13 as shown in Exhibit A are not allowable in computing profit or loss of H.E.K. Tool and Manufacturing Company under the provisions of Section 267 (a) (1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. Further, it has been determined that the loss should be decreased by the amount of $849.98 which represents overhead expense allo-cable to the ending inventory.1

Petitioners take the position that section 267 (a) (1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954,2 which provides that no deduction shall be allowed in respect of losses from sales between certain related persons,, is not applicable to the orders placed by Jandor with H.E.K. since the differences between the costs and amount billed by H.E.K. to Jandor for the items represent cost of goods sold and not losses on sales.

Petitioners admit that Edwin, Harriet, and Jandor were persons specified in section 267(b) and that under section 267(a) (1) no deduction is allowable with, respect to sales between them. Petitioners contend only that the amounts disallowed by respondent are not deductions within the meaning of section 267(a) (1) but are a part of cost of goods sold. In support of their view, petitioners rely on Lela Sullenger, 11 T.C. 1076 (1948); Commissioner v. Weisman, 197 F. 2d 221 (C.A. 1, 1952), affirming a Memorandum Opinion of this Court; Hofferbert v. Anderson Oldsmobile, 197 F. 2d 504 (C.A. 4, 1952); and Jones v. Herber, 198 F. 2d 544 (C.A. 10, 1952).

Petitioners question the constitutionality of any provision of the Internal Revenue Code which would tax receipts as distinguished from gross income, pointing out that in Lela Sullenger, supra, we stated that the Commissioner has always recognized, “as indeed he must to stay within the Constitution, that the cost of goods sold must be deducted from gross receipts in order to arrive at gross income.” Petitioners equate taxing receipts to disallowing the loss as computed by subtracting from the selling price of each order sold at a loss, the agreed costs of such order consisting of labor and material costs plus overhead allocation.

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1986 T.C. Memo. 603 (U.S. Tax Court, 1986)
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1969 T.C. Memo. 166 (U.S. Tax Court, 1969)
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United States Holding Co. v. Commissioner
44 T.C. 323 (U.S. Tax Court, 1965)
Johnson v. Commissioner
42 T.C. 441 (U.S. Tax Court, 1964)

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Bluebook (online)
42 T.C. 441, 1964 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 99, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-commissioner-tax-1964.