Manz Corp. v. United States

54 F.2d 177, 74 Ct. Cl. 5, 10 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 860, 1931 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 247, 1931 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) 9658
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedDecember 7, 1931
DocketNo. L-217
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 54 F.2d 177 (Manz Corp. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Manz Corp. v. United States, 54 F.2d 177, 74 Ct. Cl. 5, 10 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 860, 1931 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 247, 1931 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) 9658 (cc 1931).

Opinion

BOOTH, Chief Justice.

The plaintiff is an Illinois corporation and brings this suit to recover an alleged illegal exaction of income and profits taxes for the calendar year 1919. The facts are stipulated and disclose the following situation:

May 12, 1920, plaintiff filed its income and profits tax return for the year 1919" and paid the tax shown thereon. January 5, 1925, plaintiff executed and filed with the commissioner a waiver of the statute of limitations with respect to assessment of income and profits taxes for 1919. This waiver extended the time for the assessment of said taxes to December 31, 1925, containing a provision, however, “that if a notice of a deficiency in tax is sent to said taxpayer by registered mail before said date and (1) no appeal is filed therefrom with the United States Board of Tax Appeals then said date shall be extended sixty days, or (2) if an appeal is filed with said board then said date shall be extended by the number of •days between the date of mailing of said notiee of deficiency and the date of final decision by said board.”

On November 4, 1925, the commissioner mailed the plaintiff a deficiency letter notifying plaintiff of a deficiency in tax for the year 1919 of $11,701.46. December 31, 1925, the plaintiff filed with the Board of Tax Appeals a petition asking for a redetermination of its tax liability for 1919. On June 24, 1926, the commissioner moved the Board of Tax Appeals to issue an order of redetermination showing a deficiency in plaintiff’s taxes of $11,701.46 for 1919. Plaintiff by letter dated July 9, 1926, requested permission of the board to withdraw its appeal. However, on July 28, 1926, the board entered its decision redetermining plaintiff’s tax liability for 1919 and decided against the plaintiff, sustaining the commissioner, in the amount of $11,701.46.

Plaintiff took no appeal under section 1001 of the Revenue Act of 1926 (26 USCA § 1224).

February 19, 1927, the commissioner assessed a deficiency tax in the above amount against the plaintiff, which was subsequently, on March 4, 1927, paid by the plaintiff, i. e., $11,701.46 additional taxes and $689.74 interest thereon. January 13, 1930, the plaintiff -filed with the commissioner a claim for refund of the total amount of additional taxes paid as aforesaid, and interest thereon, predicating its right to a refund upon an allegation that the assessment of said amounts was made after the bar of the statute of limitations had run. May 23, 1930, the commissioner denied the claim.

It is to be noted in the first instance that the waiver executed by the parties on January 5, 1925, had the effect, irrespective of any statutory provision, as conceded in the briefs, of extending the time within which the commissioner might assess a deficiency of tax to fifty-seven days after “the date of final decision by said board.” The plaintiff, insisting that the deficiency tax was not assessed until after the expiration of fifty-seven days from the date of the final decision by the board, rests its case upon three propositions:

First. That the date of final decision by said board was July 28, 1926, i. e., the date stated in finding 6; and since this proceeding was instituted before the board under the Revenue. Act of 1924, the limitation provided in the waiver controlled the right of the commissioner to assess, and the provision of section 1005 (a) of the Revenue Act of 1926 (26 USCA § 1228 (a) that the decision of the board should become final upon the expiration of six months after the entry thereof, being the time allowed for filing a petition for review, does not apply to this case.

Second. If the date of the final decision by the board was not July 28, 1926, then the date on which it became final was August 27, 1926, i. e., thirty days after the decision under sections 900 (f) of the Revenue Act of 1924 (26 USCA § 1217 note) and 906 (b) and (d) of the Revenue Act of 1924 as amended by section 1000 of the Revenue Act of 1926 (26 USCA § 1217 note); the 1924 act providing that the decision of a [180]*180division, unless reviewed by the board within thirty days, should beeome the final decision and findings of the board, and the 1926 aet providing that the report of a division, unless reviewed by the board within thirty days, should beeome the report of the board.

Third. That in any event the decision by the board was not reviewable.

The waiver is conceded to have had this effect: It would have expired by its terms on December 31, 1925, if the commissioner had not mailed to the plaintiff a deficiency notice. However, the notice of deficiency having been given on November 4, 1925, and an appeal to the Board of Tax Appeals having been taken by the plaintiff, the time limit of expiration was extended beyond December 31, 1925, fifty-seven days, with the added period of time represented by the number of days between the date of the mailing of the deficiency notice and the date of final decision by the board. Therefore it is clear that the vital issue in the case is the date when the decision of the Board of Tax Appeals became final. Although an appeal was taken to the Board of Tax Appeals under the Revenue Aet of 1924, nevertheless the proceeding was pending before the board and no hearing had been had thereon prior to the passage of the Revenue Aet of 1926, approved February 26, 1926; therefore, the pertinent sections of the Revenue Aet of 1926 are applicable to the proceedings and actions taken by the board after its passage. Section 283 (a) and (b) of the Revenue Act of 1926, 44 Stat. 63 (26 USCA § 1064 (a, b), is as follows:

“(a) If after the enactment of this Aet the Commissioner determines that any assessment should be made in respect of any income, war-profits, or excess-profits tax imposed by the Revenue Aet of 1916, the Revenue Act of 1917, the Revenue Aet of 1918, the Revenue Aet of 1921, or the Revenue Aet of 1924, or by any sueh Aet as amended, the Commissioner is.authorized to send by registered mail to the person liable for sueh tax notice of the amount proposed to be assessed, which notice shall, for the purposes of this Aet, be considered a notice under subdivision (a) of section 274 of this Act. In the ease of any sueh determination the amount which should be assessed (whether as deficiency or as interest, penalty, or other addition to the tax) shall, except as provided in subdivision (d) of this section, be computed as if this Aet had 'not been enacted, but the amount so computed shall be assessed, collected, and paid in the same manner and subject to the same provisions and limitations (including the provisions in case of delinquency in payment after notice and demand and the provisions prohibiting claims and suits for refund) as in the case of a deficiency in the tax imposed by this title, except as otherwise provided in section 277 of this Aet.
“(b) If before the enactment of this Act any person has appealed to the Board of Tax Appeals under subdivision (a) of section 274 of the Revenue Aet of 1924 (if such appeal relates to a tax imposed by Title II of sueh Act or to so much of an income, war-profits, or excess-profits tax imposed by any of the prior Acts enumerated in subdivision (a) of this section as was not assessed before June 3, 1924), and the appeal is pending before the Board at the time of the enactment of this Aet, the Board shall have jurisdiction of the appeal.

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Bluebook (online)
54 F.2d 177, 74 Ct. Cl. 5, 10 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 860, 1931 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 247, 1931 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) 9658, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/manz-corp-v-united-states-cc-1931.