LTV Corp. v. Commissioner

63 T.C. 39, 1974 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 34
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedOctober 21, 1974
DocketDocket No. 4080-71
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 63 T.C. 39 (LTV Corp. 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
LTV Corp. v. Commissioner, 63 T.C. 39, 1974 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 34 (tax 1974).

Opinion

Sterrett, Judge:

The respondent determined deficiencies in petitioner’s Federal income tax for the calendar years 1962, 1963, and 1964 as follows:

Year Deficiency
1962 _ $49,371.79
1963 _ 2,042,488.96
1964 _ 1,769,443.38

Of the many issues raised by respondent during his audit of petitioner’s tax returns all but three had been settled by the trial date. An additional issue has since been conceded by the respondent in its entirety, leaving two issues to be decided by the Court.

The first issue relates to the applicability of the investment credit provided for by section 38, I.R.C. 1954,2 to one International Business Machines Corp. 7090 Data Processing System installed in petitioner’s computer center facilities at Arlington, Tex. The second issue requires us to determine whether the transaction by which petitioner acquired the above data processing system is to be characterized for tax purposes as a lease entitling petitioner to a deduction under section 162(a)(3) for rent paid, or as a conditional sale requiring petitioner to capitalize the cost of the data processing system and deduct appropriate amounts for depreciation and interest under sections 167 and 163, respectively.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts are stipulated and are so found. The stipulation of facts, together with the exhibits attached thereto, are incorporated by this reference.

The LTV Corp. (hereinafter petitioner) was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on November 20, 1958. Since incorporation petitioner’s name has been changed several times, the last one occurring May 5, 1972. Petitioner’s principal office is located in Dallas, Tex. For the years 1962, 1963, and 1964 petitioner filed consolidated Federal income tax returns with the District Director of Internal Revenue in Dallas, Tex.

Prior to July 1960 petitioner was engaged principally in the business of developing and producing electronic products and electro-mechanical, acoustical, air conditioning, and refrigeration equipment. With the acquisitions of Temco Aircraft Corp. in July 1960 and Chance Vought Corp. in August 1961 petitioner directly or through one or more subsidiaries, became engaged in the design, development, and production of missiles, military aircraft, military aircraft assemblies, and electronic and other components thereof.

This venture into the production of military equipment necessarily involved petitioner in many Government contracts. On certain types of contracts petitioner would be entitled to recover its costs. To recover these costs petitioner submitted invoices and public vouchers to Government auditors for review as provided in the contractual agreement. In addition to the direct charges, overhead costs were submitted and received and charged to overhead pools, which were allocated to specific contracts.

On October 23, 1961, petitioner entered into an agreement entitled “Equipment Lease Agreement” (hereinafter Boothe lease) with Boothe Leasing Corp. (hereinafter Boothe) to lease one International Business Machines Corp. 7090 Data Processing System (hereinafter computer).3 Relevant provisions of the Boothe lease include the following terms:

1. The lease of and rent for the computer was to commence on the day specified in the equipment lease schedule.

2. As additional rental, lessee was to pay all license fees, assessments, or taxes imposed by any governmental authority upon the computer, whether such license fees or taxes, were billed to the lessor or lessee.

3. Lessee at its sole expense was required to maintain at all times during the term of the agreement the computer in good operating order and repair.

4. Lessor assigned to lessee for the term of the agreement any applicable factory warranty, express or implied, issued on or applicable to the leased property, and authorized the lessee to obtain the customary service furnished by the manufacturer at lessee’s expense.

5. Lessee was to maintain, at its own expense, insurance on the leased property for its actual value, but in no event for less than the stipulated loss value specified in the equipment lease schedule, naming the lessor and lessee as the insureds.

6. Lessee assumed all risks of loss, theft, or destruction of, and damage to the leased property.

7. Nothing contained in the lease was to give or convey to lessee any right, title, or interest in any of the leased property except as a lessee.

The equipment lease schedule (hereinafter schedule) referred to in the Boothe lease established additional relevant provisions of the agreement. The term of the lease was to be 60 months commencing January 23, 1962, with a renewal option of indefinite duration, and no deposit was required. The rental payment schedule was included and called for semiannual payments as follows:

1st year: two payments of_ $535,768.08
2d year: two payments of_ 535,768.08
3d year: one payment of_ 535,768.08
one payment of_ 133,942.02
4th year: two payments of- 133,942.02
5th year: two payments of_ 133,942.02

If petitioner took up the renewal option, annual payments of $116,471.32 would be due.

The stipulated loss value schedule was also included and showed the minimum value for the computer to decrease from its original cost of $2,911,783 to its estimated market value at the end of the 5-year lease term of $291,178.30. The relationship of the stipulated loss value to the remaining rent due and the estimated market value of the computer after 5 years is as follows:

Estimated
Remaining — market value = Stipulated rent due after 5 years Total loss value
Year 1_ $3,348,550 $291,178 $3,639,728 $2,911,783 (original cost)
Year 2_ 2,277,014 291,178 2,568,192 2,277,014
Year 3_ 1,205,478 291,178 1,496,656 1,351,067
Year 4_ 535,768 291,178 826,946 826,946
Year 5_ 267,884 291,178 559,062 704,651

Attached to the schedule is a description of the computer. It shows that the computer is to consist of 24 separate components.

As an addition to the Boothe lease, Boothe granted to the petitioner the option to purchase the computer at the expiration of the lease term. The purchase price was set at 10 per cent of the original cost which amounts to $291,178.30. These terms were set out in a letter dated January 23, 1962, from Boothe to petitioner. The price was quoted to Boothe by the International Business Machines Corp. (hereinafter IBM) as the amount for which they would sell the computer at that time.

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LTV Corp. v. Commissioner
63 T.C. 39 (U.S. Tax Court, 1974)

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Bluebook (online)
63 T.C. 39, 1974 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 34, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ltv-corp-v-commissioner-tax-1974.