King Broadcasting Co. v. Commissioner

48 T.C. 542, 1967 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 72
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedJuly 12, 1967
DocketDocket No. 1237-66
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 48 T.C. 542 (King Broadcasting Co. 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
King Broadcasting Co. v. Commissioner, 48 T.C. 542, 1967 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 72 (tax 1967).

Opinion

OPINION

Fay, Judge:

Respondent determined a deficiency in petitioner’s income tax for the calendar year 1962 in the amount of $69,336.67.

Certain issues raised in the pleadings have been disposed of by agreement of the parties prior to the trial herein. The sole issue left for decision is whether $67,800 realized by petitioner upon the assignment of Muzak subscribed contracts which were separately bargained for on the sale and assignment of assets to two separate purchasers is taxable as capital gains under section 1221 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 or ordinary income under section 61 of the same Code.

All of the facts were stipulated and the stipulated facts and ex Mbits attached thereto are so found.

Petitioner King Broadcasting Co. (hereinafter referred to as King), a corporation with its office and principal place of business in Seattle, Wash., filed its Federal corporate income tax return for the calendar year 1962 with the district director of internal revenue, Tacoma, Wash.

Musiking, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as Musiking), was organized under the laws of the State of Washington on January 29, 1959. King subscribed for, and purchased, all of the outstanding Musiking stock at a cost of $50,000.

Prior to February 2, 1959, Melody Co., Inc. (hereinafter referred to as Melody), held an exclusive franchise from Muzak Corp., New York, N.Y. (hereinafter referred to as Muzak), covering transmission of Muzak music and programs to customers and subscribers in five counties located in the State of Washington. On February 2, 1959, Musiking contracted to purchase the assets of Melody. The agreement between Melody and Musiking provided for a purchase price of $145,000 with the tangible personal property valued at $64,045.92. None of the other assets obtained from Melody were separately bargained for. Tangible personal property owned by seller listed in schedule A and subscriber contracts listed in schedule B which were attached to the contract were the only rights specifically enumerated as being purchased by Musiking. Musiking did not obtain Melody’s cash and accounts receivable. Article 11 of the sales contract between Musiking and Melody provided, inter alia:

11. Seller waives all rights which it has under its franchise agreement with the Muzak Corporation and consents to the formation of a franchise agreement between Buyer and the Muzak Corporation covering a territory which includes Seller’s present territory; and Seller agrees to sign, when it is later presented to Seller, an assignment which is to be prepared by the Muzak Corporation assigning to Buyer Seller’s interest in its Muzak franchise agreement, and Seller further agrees to execute all other papers and documents which are necessary fully to assign the Muzak franchise agreement to Buyer. « * *

On February 2,1959, an agreement was entered into between Muzak (licensor), Melody (licensee), and Musiking (assignee) which, inter alia, provided as follows:

Whereas, there is now in full force and effect between Licensor and Licensee a certain binding Muzak Franchise Agreement dated November 20,194S and amendments thereto (said Agreement and amendments being hereinafter called the “Franchise Agreement”) ; and
Whereas, Licensee and Assignee represent to Licensor that effective as of the date hereof all of the customer and subscriber accounts and equipment acquired by Licensee in the .operation of its business pursuant to said Franchise Agreement have been duly sold, transferred and assigned to Assignee; and
Whereas, Licensee and Assignee desire that the Franchise Agreement be assigned to Assignee, and Assignee has requested Licensor to modify and amend the Franchise Agreement; and
Whereas, Licensor is willing to consent to the assignment of the Franchise Agreement and modify and amend the same subject to the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth:
Now, Therefore, in consideration of the premises and the mutual covenants and agreements hereinafter contained, the parties hereto agree as follows:
1. Effective as of the date hereof Licensee hereby assigns said Franchise Agreement to Assignee and Assignee hereby accepts such assignment and agrees to be bound by and fully comply with all of the terms, conditions and provisions of said Franchise Agreement.
2. In reliance upon the representations and warranties of Licensee and Assignee that Assignee is the owner of all of the customer and subscriber accounts and equipment acquired by Licensee in the operation of its business pursuant to the Franchise Agreement, Licensor hereby consents and agrees to the foregoing assignment of the Franchise Agreement from Licensee to Assignee. All of said customer and subscriber accounts and equipment are subject to all of the terms, conditions and provisions of the Franchise Agreement.
*******
7. The term of the Franchise Agreement is hereby extended to expire on December 31, 1969. Provided the Franchise Agreement is in full force and effect, Assignee may extend the term thereof for an additional period of ten (10) years beginning January 1, 1970 and ending December 31, 1979 provided Assignee notifies Licensor in writing to such effect not later than December 31, 1968.
8. All of the terms, conditions, provisions and restrictions of the Franchise Agreement, as modified and amended herein, are hereby ratified, approved and confirmed.

After purchasing the Melody assets, Musiking assigned $64,045.92 to the tangible personal property and then assigned the balance of the $145,000, namely $80,954.08, to the Muzak franchise and noncompetition agreement received from Melody. Apparently, Musiking never broke down the $80,954.08 into separate values for the Muzak franchise and the noncompetition agreement. In the amortization schedule attached to its Federal tax returns, Musiking merely listed as the cost of both intangible assets the amount of $80,954.08, and then indicated that this sum was amortizable over 131 months. Musiking did not assign any value to the current executory subscriber contracts received from Melody.

On November 1, 1961, Musiking was merged into King with King being the successor corporation.

On December 29, 1961, King entered into a contract (hereinafter referred to as the Irvine contract) whereby it sold the assets of Musiking (except receivables and trade name) to Jack Irvine, d.b.a. Business Music Co., in and for eight counties located in the State of Washington. On December 29, 1961, King entered into a contract (hereinafter referred to as the C & G contract) whereby it sold the assets of Musiking (except receivables and trade name) to C & G Electronics Co., a Washington corporation, in and for seven counties located in the State of Washington.

The total allocation made by the parties in the two sales contracts was as follows:

Tangible personal property-$97, 500

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

Related

Michot v. Commissioner
1982 T.C. Memo. 128 (U.S. Tax Court, 1982)
Berry v. Commissioner
1978 T.C. Memo. 65 (U.S. Tax Court, 1978)
Estate of Diecks v. Commissioner
65 T.C. 117 (U.S. Tax Court, 1975)
Kathman v. Commissioner
50 T.C. 125 (U.S. Tax Court, 1968)
Miller v. Commissioner
48 T.C. 649 (U.S. Tax Court, 1967)
King Broadcasting Co. v. Commissioner
48 T.C. 542 (U.S. Tax Court, 1967)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
48 T.C. 542, 1967 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 72, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/king-broadcasting-co-v-commissioner-tax-1967.