Maxwell v. Commissioner

1970 T.C. Memo. 293, 29 T.C.M. 1356, 1970 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 65
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedOctober 20, 1970
DocketDocket Nos. 2259-68 and 2265-68.
StatusUnpublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 1970 T.C. Memo. 293 (Maxwell 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
Maxwell v. Commissioner, 1970 T.C. Memo. 293, 29 T.C.M. 1356, 1970 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 65 (tax 1970).

Opinion

Walter F. Maxwell and Donna M. Maxwell v. Commissioner. W. F. Maxwell, Inc. v. Commissioner.
Maxwell v. Commissioner
Docket Nos. 2259-68 and 2265-68.
United States Tax Court
T.C. Memo 1970-293; 1970 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 65; 29 T.C.M. (CCH) 1356; T.C.M. (RIA) 70293;
October 20, 1970. Filed
*65 James O. Hewitt and Thomas F. Greaves, U.S. Nat'l Bank Bldg., San Diego, Calif., for the petitioners. J. Earl Gardner, for the respondent.

SCOTT

Memorandum Findings of Fact and Opinion

SCOTT, Judge: Respondent determined deficiencies in the income taxes of petitioners Walter F. and Donna M. Maxwell for the calendar years 1964 and 1965 in the amounts of $9,826 and $8,469, respectively, and deficiencies in the income taxes of W. F. Maxwell, Inc., for its fiscal years ended January 31, 1965 and January 31, 1966, in the amounts of $237,602.87 and $187,465.52, respectively.

Certain of the issues raised by the pleadings have been conceded by respondent leaving for our decision the question of whether a purported partnership consisting of one of the individual petitioners and the corporate petitioner is properly recognizable for Federal income tax purposes or whether the income of the partnership was really income of the corporate petitioner, a portion of which was distributed to the individual petitioners as dividends in the years in issue.

Findings of Fact

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

Petitioner W. F. Maxwell, Inc. (hereinafter*66 referred to as Maxwell, Inc.), was incorporated under the laws of the State of California in February 1954 and has been and still is an active corporation. It maintained its principal offices at the time the petition in this case was filed at 10641 Mulberry Street, Fontana, California. 1 Using an accrual method of accounting Maxwell, Inc., maintained its books and records and filed its Federal income tax returns on the 1357 basis of a fiscal year ending January 31. For the taxable years ended January 31, 1965 and 1966 its returns were filed with the district director of internal revenue in Los Angeles, California.

The individual petitioners, husband and wife, resided at the time their petition in this case was filed at West Covina, California. They filed joint Federal income tax returns for the calendar years 1964 and 1965 with the district director of internal revenue at Los Angeles, California, using the cash method of accounting.

W. F. Maxwell Company (hereinafter referred to as Maxwell Company) filed partnership returns of income*67 with the district director of internal revenue at Los Angeles, California, for the fiscal years ending January 31, 1956 through January 31, 1966, using the completed contracts method of accounting. At all times material to this case the office of Maxwell Company was located at 10641 Mulberry Street, Fontana, California.

Walter F. Maxwell (hereinafter referred to as petitioner) is a general engineering contractor qualified and licensed to do business in the States of California and Arizona. He was born in New York and acquired his engineering education at night school during the years 1930 to 1940, while employed by the New York State Highway Department. From 1941 through 1946, he was an engineer with the United States Army, first as a civilian with the Corps of Engineers and thereafter as a commissioned officer. In 1946 petitioner resigned from active duty and took a position as project manager with Daley Brothers Construction Co., a general engineering contractor with headquarters in San Francisco, California. He left Daley Brothers in 1947 to form a partnership with C. K. Moseman and Charles MacCloskey. Operating under the firm name of Chas. MacCloskey Co., the partnership specialized*68 in state highway and state bridge construction work in California, building a number of bridges under petitioner's supervision. In 1952 Maxwell withdrew from the partnership and continued to construct bridges for the State and its political subdivisions as a sole proprietor.

During the years 1952 and 1953, operating as a sole proprietor, petitioner could only bid on small state bridge projects because of his limited capital. In order for a contractor to bid on construction projects for the state or its political subdivisions, California requires such contractor to prequalify on the basis of experience and financial ability, as reflected in financial reports filed annually with the Department of Public Works. Before a construction contractor may bid on such government construction projects, he must file with the Department of Public Works a "Contractor's Statement of Experience and Financial Condition" in accordance with the applicable provisions of the California Code. On the basis of the statement, a contractor is entitled to bid on certain classes of work up to a maximum dollar limitation which is the lesser of 10 times the contractor's working capital or four times his net worth*69 less the value of the incomplete work on all going contracts.

In addition to prequalification, the state requires each construction contractor to furnish a bidder's bond equal to at least 10 percent of the total of the bid submitted to the state before the bid is considered. The successful bidder must also furnish a performance bond equal to 50 percent of the contract awarded as well as a labor and material bond equal to 50 percent of the contract price.

Operating as a sole proprietor petitioner was in competition with large established companies whose size and wealth created attractive opportunities for the young employees. Bridge construction is a competitive field, particularly with regard to employment, because of the scarcity of good bridge building personnel. In order to attract and keep qualified employees petitioner decided to form a corporation and give certain key employees a proprietary interest in the company. Therefore, petitioner formed Maxwell, Inc., by contributing $50,000 in cash in return for 5,000 shares of stock. 2 Petitioner on February 22, 1954, offered to sell to Maxwell, Inc., the assets which he used in his bridge building business at a sales price of*70

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1970 T.C. Memo. 293, 29 T.C.M. 1356, 1970 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 65, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/maxwell-v-commissioner-tax-1970.