McMillan Mortg. Co. v. Commissioner

36 T.C. 924, 1961 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 82
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedAugust 31, 1961
DocketDocket No. 83811
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 36 T.C. 924 (McMillan Mortg. Co. 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
McMillan Mortg. Co. v. Commissioner, 36 T.C. 924, 1961 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 82 (tax 1961).

Opinion

Mulroney, Judge:

The respondent determined deficiencies in petitioner’s corporate income tax for its fiscal years ended May 31, 1956, 1957, and 1958 of $13,454.03, $115,504.22, and $54,503.89, respectively. Petitioner is engaged in the mortgage loan business. During the years in question it sold some mortgages to the Federal National Mortgage Association, and, pursuant to the Association’s requirements, it received, as the proceeds of the sales, cash and shares of Federal National Mortgage Association stock. The principal issue is whether said shares of stock were a capital asset in the hands of petitioner.

FINDINGS OF FACT.

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

Petitioner, McMillan Mortgage Co., is a California corporation having its principal place of business in Los Angeles. It filed its income tax returns on the accrual basis with the district director of internal revenue at Los Angeles for its fiscal years ended May 31, 1956,1957, and 1958.

During the years in question petitioner was engaged in the business of originating and developing first mortgage loans on residential properties, selling them to permanent investors, and servicing the loans for the account of the investors during the life of the loans. The major portion of its income was derived from fees for its servicing activities, consisting of making the monthly collections due under the mortgages and remitting to the investors monthly. As an incident of its business petitioner sold mortgages and deeds of trust which it had originated or acquired to the Federal National Mortgage Association (hereafter sometimes called FNMA). Petitioner treated FNMA as a secondary market for its loans. When possible it sold to private investors because a higher price could normally be obtained. When the private money market was tight it would sell to FNMA. It performed servicing activities on mortgages sold to FNMA.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act1 and under the provisions of standard contracts with FNMA, petitioner was required to pay to FNMA a purchase and marketing fee and to subscribe to the capital stock of FNMA. The amount of the stock subscription required of the petitioner on each sale of a mortgage2 for the period before September 19, 1956, was 3 percent of the outstanding principal balance of the mortgage at the date of sale and after September 18,1956, was usually 2 percent of such balance.

When mortgages were sold to FNMA petitioner received the agreed purchase price in cash, less the purchase and marketing fee and less an amount equivalent to the par value of the stock covered by the subscription. For the subscription petitioner received shares of common stock in FNMA computed at the par value of $100 per share. During the years in question the FNMA stock to which petitioner subscribed as a result of the sale of mortgages to FNMA was accumulated by FNMA and delivered to petitioner in the month following the month of sale. The cash payment from FNMA was made currently. Petitioner accrued and entered in its books the number of shares of such stock receivable by it at the end of a calendar month for transactions completed during said calendar month.

The total number of mortgage loans and total principal amount thereof sold by petitioner during the years in question and the portion of such totals sold to the FNMA are as follows:

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During the years in question FNMA stock was received and disposed of by petitioner in amounts as follows:

At all times during tbe years in question there was a market for FNMA stock and at all times the market value of said shares was less than its par value and fluctuated in the neighborhood of $50 per share.

During its fiscal year ended May 81, 1956, petitioner kept its records and computed its profit or loss on sales of its mortgages to FNMA by including in its proceeds from said sales an amount equivalent to the par value of the stock. The shares were recorded in an account called “FNMA Stock Inventory Account” and, upon actual sale of said stock by petitioner, the loss representing the difference between the par value and the proceeds from sale was recorded in an account headed “Operating loss — FNMA Stock.”

During its fiscal years 1957 and 1958 petitioner kept its records and computed its profit or loss on sales of mortgages to FNMA by including in its proceeds from such sales an amount equivalent to the estimated fair market value of the FNMA stock (estimated at all times during the years in question to be 50 percent of the par value of such stock). These shares were recorded in the inventory account described above. Upon the sale of these shares the gain or loss representing the difference between the estimated fair market value recorded at the date of acquisition and the proceeds from the sales was recorded in the FNMA stock loss account.

During the years in question the value as shown on the books of the FNMA stock on hand at the end of each fiscal year was adjusted to reflect the then market price of the shares. The amount of the adjustment was debited or credited to the FNMA stock loss account. This entry was then reversed at the beginning of the succeeding fiscal year.

A large number of shares of FNMA stock were sold or otherwise disposed of within about 60 days after their receipt. In general, all shares received were sold or otherwise disposed of in less than 6 months after their receipt.

During the years in question petitioner did not treat the FNMA shares in its books or records as investments or as capital assets. On the contrary, it carried them as a current asset on its financial statements. Any gain or loss in the sale of said stock was treated by petitioner on its books as ordinary gain or loss.

On its income tax returns for fiscal 1956,1957, and 1958 in reporting its income petitioner treated the gain or loss on its FNMA stock as described above as a part of its gain or loss from operations. In the statutory notice respondent determined that petitioner’s income should be increased in each of the years in question. Respondent explained the adjustment to petitioner’s 1956 income as follows:

It is determined that the amounts which you paid for the purchase of stock of the Federal National Mortgage Association does not constitute inventory items but, instead, constitutes the purchase of capital assets and should he capitalized. The basis of such stock is its cost to you of $100 per share, irrespective of its fair market value, and gain or loss upon subsequent disposition of such stock constitutes a capital gain or loss, and not a deductible business expense. Inasmuch as you had no capital gains in the year ended May 31,1956, no deductions for capital losses are allowable * * *.
Loss Disallowed_ ($25,873.14) * * *.
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McMillan Mortg. Co. v. Commissioner
36 T.C. 924 (U.S. Tax Court, 1961)

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Bluebook (online)
36 T.C. 924, 1961 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 82, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcmillan-mortg-co-v-commissioner-tax-1961.