Livingston v. Commissioner

1966 T.C. Memo. 49, 25 T.C.M. 277, 1966 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 232
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedMarch 10, 1966
DocketDocket No. 5731-63.
StatusUnpublished

This text of 1966 T.C. Memo. 49 (Livingston 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
Livingston v. Commissioner, 1966 T.C. Memo. 49, 25 T.C.M. 277, 1966 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 232 (tax 1966).

Opinion

Roy N. Livingston and Bess B. Livingston v. Commissioner.
Livingston v. Commissioner
Docket No. 5731-63.
United States Tax Court
T.C. Memo 1966-49; 1966 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 232; 25 T.C.M. (CCH) 277; T.C.M. (RIA) 66049;
March 10, 1966
Jonathan Golden and Cleburne E. Gregory, Jr., 807 Fulton Federal Bldg., Atlanta, Ga., for the petitioners. Thomas A. Brown, for the respondent.

SCOTT

Memorandum Findings of Fact and Opinion

SCOTT, Judge: Respondent determined a deficiency in petitioners' income tax for the calendar year 1960 in the amount of $108,636.58.

The issues for decision are:

(1) Whether petitioner Roy N. Livingston sustained a capital loss when all of the assets, subject to*233 all of the liabilities, of a corporation of which he was the sole stockholder were transferred to him upon his surrender, for cancellation, of his stock pursuant to a formal plan of liquidation adopted by the corporation. This question arises because of disagreement between the parties as to the fair market value of the assets transferred by the corporation to this petitioner and the basis of this petitioner in the stock surrendered.

(2) What is the proper basis to petitioners for depreciation of the assets received upon the liquidation of the corporation?

An issue raised in the petition with respect to the proper estimated useful life of electrical fixtures, elevators and signs is conceded by petitioners on brief and on brief the parties agree that the issue with respect to the proper deduction for medical expenses is controlled by the determination of the amount of petitioners' taxable income.

Findings of Fact

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

Petitioners, husband and wife residing in Atlanta, Georgia, filed a joint Federal income tax return for the calendar year 1960 with the district director of internal revenue, Atlanta, Georgia.

Roy*234 N. Livingston (hereinafter referred to as petitioner) has been in the parking lot and garage business in Atlanta, Georgia for the past 34 years. During this period he has purchased, owned, leased, sold, and operated parking lots and garages in the city of Atlanta. Prior to the time he constructed the facility involved in this case (hereinafter referred to as the Five Points Building), he had constructed four multistory parking decks.

Petitioner had been interested in acquiring the site on which the Five Points Building was later constructed since around 1946 and had attempted to lease it but had been unable to do so. An old and very famous hotel known as the Kimball House had been located on this property since approximately 1870. This site is located in the center of the Atlanta commercial district which contains office buildings and bank buildings. There are some shops in the area but no large department stores very near the site. One side of the site is about 90 feet from the corner of a commercial section in Atlanta, Georgia generally referred to as Five Points. The land included in this site lies approximately 163 feet on Decatur Street, 215 feet on Pryor Street, 160 feet on*235 Wall Street plus a 15 foot frontage on Peachtree Street, widening to approximately 21 feet. The back portion of the property is approximately 300 feet from the location of another property owned by petitioner and referred to as the Bird Cage Garage which was located at 19 Exchange Place.

The fee to the property was owned by the Grant family which, when petitioner first became interested in the property, consisted of John W. Grant, Jr., his two sisters, and their mother. The property was leased to a corporation, The H. I. Kimball House Company, the stock of which was owned by John W. Grant, Jr. After the death of his mother, John W. Grant, Jr., and his two sisters were willing to have a sublease made of the property but were unwilling to extend the time of the lease to the H. I. Kimball House Company which expired December 31, 1982.

In 1958 petitioner negotiated with the lessee, the H. I. Kimball House Company, and with the owners of the property with a view to razing the existing building and erecting a modern parking facility. As a result of these negotiations, he was able to obtain a sublease, but unable to obtain a term longer than the existing lease.

A corporation known as*236 Five Points Parking Center Company (hereinafter referred to as Five Points) was incorporated to sublease The H. I. Kimball House Company property, raze the existing building, and construct a modern parking facility. Stock therein was sold in November 1958 as follows:

StockholderNo. of SharesCost
Petitioner375$18,750.00
Ellis G. Arnall502,500.00
Sol I. Golden502,500.00
Cleburne E. Gregory, Jr.251,250.00
The three stockholders other than petitioner were attorneys who were long-time friends of petitioner and who wanted to invest in a garage.

On November 13, 1958, a lease was executed between The H. I. Kimball House Company, as lessor, and Five Points Parking Center, Co., as lessee, for the property known as 15 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Georgia. The lease provided for an annual rental of $42,500.04 to December 31, 1972, increasing to an annual rental of $47,499.96 to December 31, 1982, the date of the termination of the lease. It also provided for an additional rental of 25 percent of the amount by which gross receipts from parking plus the lessee's rental exceeded $220,000 for any lease year.

Under the terms of the lease Five Points became*237

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1966 T.C. Memo. 49, 25 T.C.M. 277, 1966 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 232, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/livingston-v-commissioner-tax-1966.