Jolley v. United States

246 F. Supp. 533, 16 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5471, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9057
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedMarch 25, 1965
DocketCiv. No. 508
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 246 F. Supp. 533 (Jolley v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jolley v. United States, 246 F. Supp. 533, 16 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5471, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9057 (D. Nev. 1965).

Opinion

ROGER D. FOLEY, Chief Judge.

The essential facts are not in dispute. Plaintiffs, taxpayers, on April 9, 1956, entered into a contract with Las Vegas Television, Inc., wherein they agreed to sell five hundred (500) shares of that Corporation’s common stock, which they owned, back to the Corporation for a total of Two Hundred Seventy Thousand Dollars ($270,000), with a down payment of Thirty Thousand Dollars ($30,000), and the balance payable, without interest, at Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000) per month, payable in full in ten (10) years. The contract became effective in February of 1957, when the sale was approved by the Federal Communications Commission and the stock was transferred from the taxpayers to the Corporation at that time. Taxpayers received payments on the contract in 1957 totalling Sixty-four Thousand Dollars ($64,000). Taxpayers had acquired the stock in March of 1953 at a cost of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,-000).

The taxpayers made no reference whatever to the contract of sale on their 1957 income tax returns. Upon audit, the Commissioner assessed the entire profit on this sale, which was One Hundred Fifty-Three Thousand Eight Hundred Seventy Dollars ($153,870) (the discounted value of the sale of Two Hundred Three Thousand Eight Hundred Seventy Dollars ($203,870), less its basis of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000)) to the taxpayers as capital gains income in 1957. The assessments, plus interest, were paid and taxpayers thereupon filed timely claim for refund, asserting that [534]*534they should have been permitted to report the profit from the sale on the instalment basis.1 The refund claims were disallowed by statutory notice of disallowance on the grounds that the taxpayers had not made a timely election to use the instalment basis on their 1957 returns and this action was timely commenced.

Counsel have stipulated that the sole issue to be determined in this case is whether taxpayers are entitled to utilize the instalment method provided by Section 453 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 2 of reporting gains on the sale of property.

The Government relies principally on Jacobs v. Commissioner, 9 Cir., 1955, 224 F.2d 412, for the proposition that in order to employ the instalment method, the taxpayer must make a timely election, normally on his tax return for the year in which the sale occurred. The Government also relies upon Pacific National Co. v. Welch, 304 U.S. 191, 195, 58 S.Ct. 857, 82 L.Ed. 1282; Ireland v. Commissioner, 32 T.C. 994; Briarly v. Commissioner, 29 B.T.A. 256; Vischia v. Commissioner, 26 T.C. 1027; Commons v. Commissioner, 20 T.C. 900; Cedar Valley Distillery, Inc. v. Commissioner, 16 T.C. 870; and Thrift v. Commissioner, 15 T.C. 366.

Treasury Regulation 1.453-8 (a) (2) of the 1954 Code, which reads in part:

“A taxpayer who adopts the installment method for the first taxable year in which he makes sales on the installment plan of any kind must indicate in his income tax return for that taxable year that the installment method of accounting is being adopted and specify the type or types of sales included within such election.”

applies to tax years ending after December 17, 1958 (see T.R. 1.453-10(b), 1954 Code) and is not applicable here.

The Government, however, relies on Revenue Ruling 93, quoted in footnote 2 at Page 7 of its brief, as follows.

“ ‘An election to report a sale of property on the installment basis, under * * * [predecessor of Section 453], must be exercised in a timely filed Federal income tax re[535]*535turn for the taxable year in which sale was made, otherwise the right of such election is forfeited.’ ”

The taxpayers cite and rely upon Hornberger v. Commissioner, 5 Cir., 1961, 289 F.2d 602; United States v. Eversman, 6 Cir., 1943, 133 F.2d 261; Scales v. Commissioner, 6 Cir., 1954, 211 F.2d 133; and Nunn v. Gray, D.C., 196 F.Supp. 305.

This Court believes that the recent case of Baca v. Commissioner, 5 Cir., 1964, 326 F.2d 189, as well as Hornberger, is dispositive of the question and that Jacobs is not in point.

Baca and Hornberger dealt with Section 44(b) of the 1928 Revenue Act [1939 Code]. For our purposes the pertinent provisions of that Section and Section 453 of the 1954 Code are the same.

In Baca, the taxpayer sold her farm in 1953, realizing a substantial profit. She failed to file income tax returns for the years 1953, 1954, 1955 and 1956. In 1957, she reported the sale of her farm on The instalment basis. The Government, as it does in this case, took the position the taxpayer did not timely elect the instalment basis and the Government prevailed in the Tax Court.

On appeal, the Fifth Circuit stated, at page 190 of 326 F.2d:

“ * * * The parties agree, as they must from a simple reading of the statute, that there is no language contained in the law itself that limits the exercise of the option by the taxpayer to a timely filed return for the year in which the sale occurred. In fact, the government’s brief asserts that ‘Two qualifications must be met by a taxpayer: (1) The initial payments received in the sale year must not exceed 30 per cent of the selling price, and (2) the taxpayer must make an election.’ If these are really the only two qualifications then 'clearly the Tax Court decision is wrong. Although not saying so in the terms of an additional qualification, however, the government proceeds to argue that the second requirement, to-wit, ‘that the taxpayer must make an election,’ has a further requirement, not stated in the statute, that the election be made in a timely filed return for the year in which the sale takes place. We conclude that no such requirement can be engrafted upon the requirements in the statute.

“As this Court said in Hornberger v. Commissioner, 5 Cir., 289 F.2d 602:

‘It is, of course, necessary for the taxpayer to report his income for tax purposes. Normally, this obligation is met by taxpayers who report all transactions that result in taxable income. To the extent that one fails to do this he is immediately faced with the obligation of accounting for such failure. If due to negligence or fraud moderate to heavy sanctions are imposed.’
Here, by reason of the holding of the Tax Court that the failure to file the returns was due to the negligent omission of the taxpayer, moderate sanctions have been imposed. In addition, sanctions have been imposed for the failure to make a timely estimate of 1953 taxes. However, the Commissioner seeks to have the court impose additional sanctions, sanctions which are much heavier than those which Congress has seen fit to impose for negligence.”

At Page 191, the Court, without saying so in so many words, disposes of the Government’s contention, here, that Jacobs is controlling:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Yellow Cab & Car Rental Co. v. Commissioner
1974 T.C. Memo. 79 (U.S. Tax Court, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
246 F. Supp. 533, 16 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5471, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9057, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jolley-v-united-states-nvd-1965.