Mannheimer Charitable Trust v. Commissioner

93 T.C. No. 5, 93 T.C. 35, 1989 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 101
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedJuly 12, 1989
DocketDocket No. 44909-86
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 93 T.C. No. 5 (Mannheimer Charitable Trust 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
Mannheimer Charitable Trust v. Commissioner, 93 T.C. No. 5, 93 T.C. 35, 1989 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 101 (tax 1989).

Opinion

RAUM, Judge:

The Commissioner determined that petitioner, taxable as a private foundation, is Hable for the 10-percent private foundation excise tax under section 4945(a)(1)1 in the amounts of $42,184 in 1981, $41,205 in 1982, and $26,173 in 1983, in respect of grants which it made to two other private foundations. The issue is whether such grants were “taxable expenditures” under section 4945(d)(4), which in turn depends upon whether petitioner exercised “expenditure responsibility” with respect to the grants within the meaning of section 4945(h). The case was submitted on the basis of a stipulation of facts.

Petitioner, the Hans S. Mannheimer Charitable Trust (Trust), was located in Newark, New Jersey, at the time it filed the petition herein. It was created to advance Hans S. Mannheimer’s interests in the care and study of animals, especially primates. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement of trust, as amended, a portion of the trust income is to be paid to Animal Care Fund, Inc. (Animal Care), and the balance is to be paid to Mannheimer Primatological Foundation (Mannheimer Primatological). Both Animal Care and Mannheimer Primatological (grantees or donees) are and have been “not for profit” corporations classified as tax exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3). Both were established by Hans S. Mannheimer, as was petitioner.

Animal Care provides an animal shelter for the care and prevention of cruelty to animals. It is located in East Smithfield, Pennsylvania. Mannheimer Primatological is involved in the research and development of breeding programs for the purpose of preserving endangered species of nonhuman primates and is involved in the advancement and promotion of the study of the physical and behavioral structure and patterns of nonhuman primates. Mannheimer Primatological also provides assistance to charitable, scientific, or educational agencies or institutions. It is located in Homestead, Florida.

From 1979 to 1983 the following were the common members, managers, officers, and trustees of the aforesaid organizations:

Mannheimer Primatological Foundation Animal Care Fund, Inc. Hans S. Mannheimer Charitable Trust
Warren Lloyd Lewis Trustee, President Manager Trustee, Secretary, Member Trustee
First Fidelity Bank, N.A. Trustee
John C. Leeds Trustee, Vice Pres. (1979-1982), Sec. (1983), Manager Trustee, Treasurer, Member Note — MriLeeds has been an Officer of First Fidelity Bank, N.A.
Lesley A. Trustee Trustee, President, Trustee
Sinclair Pres. (1983), Manager Member

The parties have stipulated that, “in accordance with the express terms of the Trust, the following distributions were made by petitioner for the years 1981-1983”:

Mannheimer Primatological Animal Care
Year Foundation Fund, Inc.
1981 $318,870.80 $102,964.94
1982 301,208.84 110,836.29
1983 161,000.00 100,728.23

The parties have also stipulated that “All of the funds paid to the grantees * * * have been spent [by the grantees] for the proper purposes of the grant[s].” The Hans S. Mannheimer Charitable Trust, Mannheimer Primatological, and Animal Care have no direct or indirect dealings with or participation in political activities and specifically did not use the funds to carry on propaganda or otherwise to attempt to influence legislation or to influence the outcome of any specific public election or carry on a voter registration drive.

Pursuant to the requirements of section 6033, petitioner filed information returns, Forms 990-PF Return of Private Foundation, for each of the years in question, namely, 1981, 1982, and 1983. On each of these returns, the responses to the questions relating to the section 4945 taxes on taxable expenditures were incorrect. Item 14(a)(4) on each Form 990-PF called for an answer to the following question: “During the year did you pay or incur any amount to provide a grant to an organization, other than a charitable, etc., organization described in section 509(a)(1), (2) or (3)?” Petitioner’s response to this question for each of the years Petitioner’s response to this question for each of the years at issue was “No.” The correct answer was “Yes,” since Animal Care and Mannheimer Primatological received monies from petitioner but are not section 509(a)(1), (2), or (3) organizations. As a result of the incorrect answer to item 14(a)(4), the related questions in 14(b) and (c) were marked “NIA” The correct answer to both 14(b) and 14(c) was “Yes” rather than “N/A,” and a “Yes” answer to 14(c) would have called for the attachment of the “statement required.” No such statement was attached in any of the three returns.

Such required statement obviously referred to the provisions of section 53.4945-5(d)(l) and (2) of the regulations, which provide that the foundation must make a report “with respect to each grant.”2 (Emphasis added.) In addition to supplying the name and address of the grantee, the grantor was obligated to set forth detailed information in that report as to a number of pertinent matters, including the date and the amount of each grant, the purposes of the grant, and the results of any verification of the grantee’s reports to the grantor. All of the requirements could be satisfied by submitting with the foundation’s return a report from the grantee if the required information is contained in such report. Although petitioner’s returns did identify Mannheimer Primatological and Animal Care as the grantees, and did report an amount paid to each of them, they did not otherwise supply the information asked for in the “statement” required. For example, although the returns reported the aggregate amounts paid to each of the two named grantees, there was no breakdown or even any clue as to the purpose for which the payments or any specified portion thereof was made.

Animal Care filed information returns, Forms 990-PF, on a fiscal year basis for the years ending September 30, 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1984. Mannheimer Primatological also filed information returns, Forms 990-PF, for the years at issue on a calendar year basis. In their returns, the donees stated etc.” and specifically listed the aggregate amount received from petitioner.3

The Commissioner determined that petitioner was hable for the 10-percent tax imposed by section 4945(a)(1). Whether he erred in that determination, as contended by petitioner, depends upon the applicability of section 4945(d) and (h), as will be developed more fully hereinafter. Preliminarily, it is important that section 4945 be considered in proper context.

Section 4945 first appeared in the Code in 1969. It was part of subchapter A of an entirely new chapter 42 that was added to the Code by the Tax Reform Act of 1969.4 Subchapter A of chapter 42 dealt exclusively with private foundations.

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Related

Thorne v. Commissioner
99 T.C. No. 4 (U.S. Tax Court, 1992)
Mannheimer Charitable Trust v. Commissioner
93 T.C. No. 5 (U.S. Tax Court, 1989)

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Bluebook (online)
93 T.C. No. 5, 93 T.C. 35, 1989 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 101, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mannheimer-charitable-trust-v-commissioner-tax-1989.