LATTER v. Fontenot

102 So. 2d 488, 235 La. 47, 1958 La. LEXIS 1180
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedApril 21, 1958
Docket43174
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 102 So. 2d 488 (LATTER v. Fontenot) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
LATTER v. Fontenot, 102 So. 2d 488, 235 La. 47, 1958 La. LEXIS 1180 (La. 1958).

Opinions

SIMON, Justice.

Pursuant to and under the authority of our statutes dealing with revenue and taxation1 the Collector of Revenue for the State of Louisiana filed a notice of assessment dated December 30, 1954 showing additional Louisiana income tax, penalty and interest, in the total sum of $9,316.45 due by Dr. Lee C. & Mrs. Shirley L. Schlesinger for the calendar year 1951, of which amount the sum of $8,031.42 was shown as delinquent income tax due and $1,285.03 shown as the amount of interest due to January 15, 1955. The notice of assessment also notified the said taxpayers that they had sixty calendar days from the date of the notice in which to either pay this additional assessment or file an appeal with the Board of Tax Appeals for a review or redetermination thereof. Whereupon in due time Mrs. Shirley Latter, widow of Dr. Lee C. Schlesinger, petitioned the Board of Tax Appeals to have the said assessment reviewed and upon a redetermination thereof said assessment be declared invalid. It was undisputably shown that prior to and during the years 1944 to 1951 Dr. Lee C. Schlesinger was an actively practicing physician residing in the City of New Orleans. In 1951 he sold property at a net gain of $190,765.18, which gain was not included in the taxable income for that year for the reason as contended by the taxpayers that the said property constituted a capital asset located outside the State of Louisiana and therefore the said gain was exempt from Louisiana income tax under the provisions of LSA-R.S. 47:512.

On the other hand, the Collector contended that the property in question was not a capital asset within the meaning of our income tax laws, and as defined in LSA-R.S. 47:72 3.

The record discloses that Mr. Harry Latter, realtor, was the father-in-law of [53]*53Dr. Schlesinger and advised him concerning the acquisition and disposition of the property located in Memphis, Tennessee. Mr. Latter testified that the property originally consisted of three parcels of ground located in the business district of Memphis; that the improvements thereon were one to two hundred years old and in a state of decay ; that he advised his daughter and son-in-law to acquire the respective properties at the lowest price obtainable and to permit tenants to retain occupancy until the three properties could be consolidated and sold as a single unit for commercial purposes and for the highest market price available. He testified that the sole purpose of the purchase was to offer for sale on the market as soon as practicable the consolidated properties as a single unit and thus realize a profit from the transaction. In accord with this expert advice Dr. Schlesinger, acting through real estate agencies for the purchase, management and subsequent sale, acquired the first parcel of the property on August 14, 1944, the second on August 6, 1946 and the third on December 30, 1946. Rentals were paid to these agents by the tenants then occupying the buildings under monthly rental agreements until the 1951 sale. From the time of the last purchase when the three parcels were consolidated into one unit until the subsequent sale ■in 1951 continuous efforts were made to interest property purchasers. It appears that immediately following the sale in 1951 the purchaser demolished the buildings and improvements located thereon and constructed a commercial building occupying the whole site.

The Collector of Revenue contends that the purchase, the use for rental purposes and the profitable sale of the property during the interim from 1946 to 1951 constituted the holding of the property primarily for sale in the ordinary course of the joint trade or business of buying, renting and selling real estate and hence taxable.

The record also shows that during the years from 1948 to 1951 Dr. Schlesinger was a member of a partnership consisting of himself, his wife and her brother, Shepard Latter, which owned commercial real estate in New Orleans and elsewhere and which was operated and managed by Harry Latter, realtor. However, the transaction involving the Memphis property which is here sought to be taxed was the sole business venture of this nature engaged in by Dr. Schlesinger other than his partnership affiliation.

It is clearly established by the record that the operation and management of this partnership was in the exclusive hands of Harry Latter, realtor. The taxpayers did not give or engage any time, attention or labor in connection therewith. It is true [55]*55that they benefited by whatever profits the partnership assets yielded them. However, it cannot be fairly said that their affiliation with this partnership was such as would be sufficient to constitute their being engaged in the trade or business of buying, renting or selling realty.

After a hearing before the Board of Tax Appeals judgment was rendered in favor of the taxpayer and against the Collector of Revenue, ordering the subject assessment set aside and annulled. Thereafter the Collector of Revenue appealed 4 to the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans for a review of the said judgment seeking a reversal thereof. The trial court affirmed the findings 'and ruling of the Board, and the Collector appealed and presents to us the identical question heretofore presented, whether the taxpayers herein were engaged in the ordinary trade or business of buying, renting and selling realty so as to necessarily conclude that the subject transaction was amenable to taxation.

We are in accord with the definition expressed in Holmes, Federal Income Tax (6th Ed.) at page 969, wherein it is said: “The terms ‘trade’ and ‘business’ have been defined as follows: ‘that which occupies and engages the time, attention and labor of anyone for the purpose of livelihood, profit, or improvement; that which is his personal concern or interest; employment, regular occupation, but it is not necessary that it should be his sole occupation of employment.’ ”

Whether the management of real estate for profit is the “engaging in business or trade”, within the meaning of the Federal Revenue Act raises a federal question, which cannot be controlled by state decisions. Pinchot v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 2 Cir., 113 F.2d 718. Conversely, whether management of real estate for profit is the “engaging in business or trade” within the meaning of a state statute cannot be controlled by federal decisions. The decisions of Federal Courts can only serve as mediums for light and guidance.

It is universally and fundamentally true that even though property is acquired for revenue, it does not necessarily mean the investor is engaged in a trade or business. A person can be engaged in more than one trade, occupation or profession. A doctor may engage in some other profitable business besides his regular business or profession; so may a lawyer; so may one who is employed as a general manager of a business concern.

In Higgins v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 312 U.S. 212, 61 S.Ct. 475, 478, 85 L.Ed. 783, the United States Supreme Court held that to determine whether the activities of a taxpayer are “carrying on a [57]*57business” requires an examination of the facts in each case.

In Fackler v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 6 Cir.,

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LATTER v. Fontenot
102 So. 2d 488 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1958)

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Bluebook (online)
102 So. 2d 488, 235 La. 47, 1958 La. LEXIS 1180, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/latter-v-fontenot-la-1958.