Miller v. Commissioner

32 T.C. 954, 1959 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 119
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedJuly 27, 1959
DocketDocket No. 67114
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 32 T.C. 954 (Miller 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
Miller v. Commissioner, 32 T.C. 954, 1959 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 119 (tax 1959).

Opinion

Fisher, Judge:

This proceeding involves deficiencies in income tax determined against petitioners as follows:

Tear Amount

1953_ $297.70

1954_ 2, 584.48

In conformity with section 6214, Code of 1954, respondent filed an amended answer at the hearing claiming an increased deficiency in the amount of $300.90 for the taxable year 1953, or a total deficiency for said year in the amount of $598.60.

The principal issues presented for our decision herein are (1) whether a taxpayer who has elected to take the standard deduction on his own return may also get the benefit of a deduction for real estate taxes which he, in practical effect, paid individually, out of his own funds, on investment property titled in the name of a partnership; (2) whether the purchase by a partnership of the interest of one of four partners in certain notes and securities of the partnership gave rise to a stepped-up basis to the remaining partners with respect to their interests as partners in the notes and securities so purchased; (8) determination of basis of certain maturing notes; and (4) whether said notes were in registered form within the meaning of sections 117(f) and 1282(a) (1) of the Codes of 1939 and 1954, respectively.

FINDINGS OF FACT.

Some of the facts are stipulated, and, as stipulated, are incorporated herein by reference.

Victor A. and Beatrice A. Miller, husband and wife (hereinafter called petitioners), are residents of Denver, Colorado. Petitioners filed joint income tax returns for the taxable years 1953 and 1954 with the director of internal revenue for the district of Colorado. For convenience, Victor A. Miller will be referred to hereinafter as petitioner.

Immediately prior to May 29, 1951, the A. S. Miller Estate was a partnership. The proportionate interests of the several partners were as follows:

Per cent

Victor A. Miller_ 42

Emma Miller “B” Trust- 22

Emma Miller “C” Trust_ 22

Marcella M. duPont- 14

The B and C Trusts, mentioned hereinabove, were trusts created by Emma Miller, widow of A. S. Miller and mother of petitioner. Petitioner, in the case of the B Trust, and Marcella M. duPont, in the case of the C Trust, were the life beneficiaries. Petitioner was designated trustee of both trusts. Marcella is petitioner’s sister.

Assets owned or held by the partnership and their respective adjusted bases in the hands of the partnership immediately prior to May 29, 1951, were as follows:

Cash_$74, 750

851 Clarkson St_ 6,300

Bonnie notes_ 13,500

Toltec stock_ 14, 800

Toltec bonds_ 9,200

Miller-duPont, Inc., stock_ 7, 000

Primrose refunding bonds_ 5,100

Cooper purchase bonds_ 12, 000

Darlington stock_ 9,000

Darlington bonds_ 11,300

(Noma. — The items material to the inBtant case referred to a» bonds were, in fact, notes.)

Income was derived from tbe aforesaid securities and from the management of real estate (apartment house and office buildings) owned by the same corporations which issued the securities. Petitioner was the partner who performed the management services.

On May 29,1951, the partnership bought from Marcella her individual partnership share in the aforesaid securities and properties, other than the realty located at 851 Clarkson Street, for a consideration of $70,000, paid to her by a certified check drawn on the account of the partnership. By the written agreement relating to said purchase, her individual interest in the realty located at 851 Clarkson Street was expressly not affected.

A short time thereafter (some 3 days to 3 weeks), notes and securities owned by the partnership were distributed in kind to the B and C Trusts to the extent of their respective interests therein as partners (and other than their interest in 851 Clarkson Street) as follows:

B Trust

20 shares Darlington stock.

Darlington bonds (face value $59,300).

O Trust

Toltee bonds (face value $25,000).

Primrose refunding notes (face value $34,100).

Cooper purchase notes (face value $40,900).

Marcella M. duPont (who had received $70,000 for her interest in the notes and securities of the partnership) continued as a partner and retained her interest as a partner in 851 Clarkson Street. No distribution in kind of notes or securities was made to Victor A. Miller. The undistributed stocks, bonds, notes, and cash, together with his interest as a partner in 851 Clarkson Street, were considered as representing his partnership interest.

After May 29,1951, petitioner continued to manage the same realty which he had previously managed for the partnership. During the taxable years 1953 and 1954, petitioner, individually, was entitled to receive all of the management fees.

The partnership real estate located at 851 Clarkson Street, Denver, was not productive of income at any time relevant to this case. After the aforesaid distribution to the trusts, the income from securities which had not been distributed to the trusts and the income from the management of the apartment and building corporations continued to come in almost entirely by checks payable to “A. S. Miller Estate,” or “A. S. Miller Estate Partnership.” These checks were customarily deposited in a bank account designated “A. S. Miller Estate,” being the same bank account utilized by the partnership prior to the distribution of partnership assets. Receipts from management fees came in similarly and were handled in the same manner by petitioner.

Not all funds received and placed in the bank account of “A. S. Miller Estate” were remitted to petitioner. In some cases, funds, including some of the funds originating from the maturity payments of the Cooper purchase notes and the Primrose refunding notes in 1954, were left in said bank account. In some instances, checks were drawn against said bank account for real estate taxes on the 851 Clarkson Street property (see infra) and for other disbursements for the preservation of said realty.

The office door carried the name and style “A. S. Miller Estate,” and all cards, stationery, rental contracts, notices, discounts, accounts and account books, and the like, bore the same style and title before and after the transactions of May 29,1951. Likewise, the undistributed notes and securities remained in the name of the “A. S. Miller Estate” and were kept in the safe-deposit box of the “A. S. Miller Estate” until their registry in early 1952, to be discussed infra, after which they were retained in a file in the office marked “A. S. Miller Estate.”

After distributions of the aforesaid securities in May 1951, the partnership real estate remained in the record title of “A. S.

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Miller v. Commissioner
32 T.C. 954 (U.S. Tax Court, 1959)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
32 T.C. 954, 1959 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 119, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-commissioner-tax-1959.