Meredith v. Commissioner

65 T.C. 34, 1975 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 55
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedOctober 14, 1975
DocketDocket Nos. 6897-73, 6898-73
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 65 T.C. 34 (Meredith 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
Meredith v. Commissioner, 65 T.C. 34, 1975 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 55 (tax 1975).

Opinion

OPINION

Petitioner, to be entitled to deductions for depreciation and maintenance expenses under sections 167(a)(2)5 and 212(2),6 must demonstrate that the Pebble Beach property was “property held for the production of income” during the years 1969 through 1971. The quoted phrase in both sections arises from the Revenue Act of 1942, 56 Stat. 798, 819. Since both sections embody an identity of purpose, the phrase must be given the same construction in one as in the other. Commissioner v. Ridgway’s Estate, 291 F. 2d 257, 259 (3d Cir. 1961), affg. 33 T.C. 1000 (1960); Frank A. Newcombe, 54 T.C. 1298 (1970).

Petitioner advances the argument that prior to 1969 she had forever abandoned the Pebble Beach property as a secondary residence, and that under our decision in Mary Laughlin Robinson, 2 T.C. 305 (1943), the property was converted to “property held for the production of income” by being listed for sale or rent. In support of her position, petitioner has also cited section 1.212-l(b) and (h), Income Tax Regs., which provides:

(b) The term “income” for the purpose of section 212 includes not merely income of the taxable year but also income which the taxpayer has realized in a prior taxable year or may realize in subsequent taxable years; and is not confined to recurring income but applies as well to gains from the disposition of property. * * * Similarly, ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred in the management, conservation, or maintenance of a building devoted to rental purposes are deductible notwithstanding that there is actually no income therefrom in the taxable year, and regardless of the manner in which or the purpose for which the property in question was acquired. Expenses paid or incurred in managing, conserving, or maintaining property held for investment may be deductible under section 212 even though the property is not currently productive and there is no likelihood that the property will be sold at a profit or will otherwise be productive of income and even though the property is held merely to minimize a loss with respect thereto.
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(h) Ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred in connection with the management, conservation, or maintenance of property held for use as a residence by the taxpayer are not deductible. However, ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred in connection with the management, conservation, or maintenance of property held by the taxpayer as rental property are deductible even though such property was formerly held by the taxpayer for use as a home.

In connection therewith, she contends that the holding of the Pebble Beach property for rental purposes, and the taxable gain she realized from its disposition in 1972, render the Pebble Beach property, “property held for the production of income” irrespective of the fact that it was not “currently productive” during the years in issue.

Respondent does not agree. His primary argument is that petitioner never abandoned the Pebble Beach property as a secondary residence and he urges that the evidence demonstrates the continued use of the Pebble Beach property as a weekend resort. His secondary argument is that even nf the Pebble Beach property were abandoned, it was never converted to “property held for the production of income” since petitioner has never made a bona fide effort to rent it.

We find that the property was abandoned as a secondary residence prior to 1969. Although either petitioner or Knowles made semimonthly visits to the property during the years in issue, petitioner’s evidence clearly demonstrates that such visits were made, at least primarily, for reasons related to the sale or rental of the property. Furthermore, respondent’s evidence on this point is unconvincing. He would have us believe that the following facts warrant but one explanation — that petitioner was continuing to use the house as a weekend resort. We disagree.

(a) Petitioner or Knowles visited the house approximately twice per month and the company’s property listing forms stated that the house would be occupied by the owner “on weekends” or “at intervals.” However, Winslow testified that these recitations did not mean every weekend. Furthermore, we have already found that these visits were made primarily for the purpose of renting or selling the property.

(b) The utilities were operative during the years in issue. It is obvious that this was necessitated by the presence of an electrical burglar alarm system and the use of water by petitioner’s gardener.

(c) The hoüse contained two telephones, and both petitioner and Knowles were listed in the Pebble Beach directory. It seems clear that during the aforementioned visits petitioner or Knowles would desire to have a telephone available for use. They could not reasonably have been expected continuously to request that the telephone company disconnect the telephones during their absence.

(d) The house was well furnished and always available for use by petitioner and her family. This fact simply does not. support respondent’s contention. Every abandoned residence is available for use by the owner until actual rental or sale. Merely because the Pebble Beach house was well furnished fails to prove that petitioner was utilizing it as a resort. The commonsense of the matter is that petitioner furnished the house as a second residence. Upon abandonment, she already possessed a fully furnished residence in Oakland and merely left the furnishings of the Pebble Beach house intact.

(e) In 1972 Knowles purchased a residence adjacent to the Pebble Beach property. He currently travels there with the same frequency with which he visited the Pebble Beach property. We agree that this indicates use of the property as a resort by Knowles. It is not in itself, however, sufficient to prove respondent’s position. After careful consideration of the evidence we conclude that petitioner had abandoned the Pebble Beach house as a secondary residence prior to 1969.

Proof of abandonment is, however, only the first hurdle petitioner must overcome to succeed in the instant case. Petitioner must also bear the burden of proving the property was being held for the production of income during the years in issue. Frederick H. Prince Trust, 35 T.C. 974 (1961); Marjorie M. P. May, 35 T.C. 865 (1961), affd. 299 F. 2d 725 (4th Cir. 1962). Put another way, petitioner must show that the property was being used for a profit-seeking purpose during the years in question. Samuel Yanow, 44 T.C. 444 (1965), affd. 358 F. 2d 743 (3d Cir. 1966); cf. United States v. Gilmore, 372 U.S. 39, 44-45 (1963). Carkhuff v. Commissioner, 425 F. 2d 1400 (6th Cir. 1970), affg. T.C. Memo. 1969-66. We conclude that petitioner has failed to make the requisite showing.

In cases of this type the critical inquiry is the intention of the taxpayer as gleaned from all of the facts and circumstances. William C. Horrmann, 17 T.C. 903, 907 (1951); Samuel Yanow, supra at 452. Prior to 1969, petitioner had held the Pebble Beach property for 18 years without receiving any rental income. During this period all efforts to rent the property were handled exclusively by real estate agencies, primarily the company.

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Meredith v. Commissioner
65 T.C. 34 (U.S. Tax Court, 1975)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
65 T.C. 34, 1975 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 55, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/meredith-v-commissioner-tax-1975.