Mintz v. Commissioner

284 F.2d 554
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedNovember 17, 1960
DocketNos. 6, 7, 8, Dockets 25938-25940
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 284 F.2d 554 (Mintz v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mintz v. Commissioner, 284 F.2d 554 (2d Cir. 1960).

Opinion

LEONARD P. MOORE, Circuit Judge.

Petitioners1 seek a reversal of decisions of the Tax Court (32 T.C. 723) which held that the gain which they realized on the receipt of cash distributed by, and on the sale of their stock in, Kingsway Development, Inc. (Kings-way), a corporation owning three apartment houses built under Federal Housing Administration mortgage guarantees, was taxable as ordinary income rather than as capital gain within the purview of the 1950 amendment to Section 117 of the Capital Gains Section of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, ch. 994, 64 Stat. 906, 26 U.S.C.A. § 117, the “collapsible corporation” section.

, After providing that gain from the sale or exchange of stock of a collapsible corporation shall be considered as gain from the sale or exchange of property which is not a capital asset, Section 117 (m), entitled “Collapsible Corporations,” defines a collapsible corporation as—

“(A) * * * a corporation formed or availed of principally for the manufacture, construction, or production of property * * * with a view to—
“(i) the sale or exchange of stock by its shareholders (whether in liquidation or otherwise), or a distribution to its shareholders, prior to the realization by the corporation * * * of a substantial part of the net income to be derived from such property, and
“(ii) the realization by such shareholders of gain attributable to such property.”

Petitioners had for years been in the real estate development business. In 1948, they, together with Monroe Marko-witz, a brother-in-law, either directly or through a closely held corporation controlled by them, acquired three parcels of land at a cost of $44,567.96.

Hoping to mortgage out, that is, to obtain a loan that would exceed the cost of construction, Louis Mintz and Marko-witz, as co-sponsors on behalf of the yet not formed Kingsway, applied under Section 608 of the National Housing Act for $1,125,000 in F.H.A. mortgage insurance, an amount based on estimated costs which included substantial builder’s and architect’s fees which petitioners did not intend to pay in full. They received a tentative commitment. Thereafter, on February 14, 1949, petitioners and Markowitz formed Kingsway and later conveyed the three plots of land to the corporation in return for stock. The land was entered in the Kingsway books at cost, namely, $44,567.96.

On April 4, 1949, Louis Mintz submitted a revised application to F.H.A. requesting an increase in the mortgage guarantee to $1,283,000, pursuant to which F.H.A. increased its commitment to $1,253,800. On August 11, 1949, a first mortgage loan was agreed to by the Lincoln Savings Bank of Brooklyn (Lincoln) and on the same day Kingsway entered into a construction contract with Marmintz Homes, Inc. (a corporation wholly owned by petitioners and Marko-witz) to build the project for $1,182,001. Work was commenced on the apartment buildings and in “November or December” of 1949 petitioners’ accountant prepared a report showing clearly that the F.H.A. guaranteed mortgage loan proceeds would exceed construction costs.

During the first six months of 1950 because of differences of opinion concerning rentals and management, the relationship between the Mintz brothers and Markowitz became increasingly strained. Finally, in July, 1950, Louis who apparently was the spokesman and tactician for the brothers determined that a separation between himself and his brothers, on the one hand and Marko-witz, on the other, not only with respect to Kingsway stock but also with respect to other properties which they owned together, would be desirable, [557]*557Louis telephoned a real estate broker concerning the Kingsway stock and put upon it a price, after all available cash was withdrawn from the corporation, of $100,000.

On September 1, 1950, the F.H.A. conducted a final inspection and found that although most of the project was acceptably completed, more remained to be done. The final payment was made on September 25, 1950, but a small sum was deposited in escrow to insure that the landscaping would be completed. On this date the Kingsway board of directors met. The mortgage proceeds had, as hoped for, exceeded the amount actually expended in construction. The buildings and equipment were revalued in Kingsway’s books from the $1,037,-698.14 2 cost basis to $1,300,000 in order to create a revaluation surplus and three days later a distribution of $216,300 from surplus was made to petitioners and Markowitz. On their 1950 returns petitioners reported these distributions as capital gain. On the same day (September 28, 1950) petitioners and Markowitz sold their stock for $102,905 pursuant to a contract dated July 31, 1950. This gain they also reported as capital gain.

Kingsway received a $47,017.50 mortgage premium from the mortgagee, Lincoln. It was only after a revenue agent challenged Kingsway’s income tax returns that they were adjusted to reflect the mortgage premium funds as ordinary income.

Section 117(m) of the 1939 Internal Revenue Code, as its somewhat similar counterpart in the 1954 Code at 26 U.S.C.A. § 341, employs the “collapsible corporation” appellation. This somewhat misleading term was probably selected by the draftsman because the basic type of financial scheme at which the section was aimed often involved the use of temporary corporations which were dissolved and their profits attributable to construction of the principal corporate asset distributed. That the corporation be liquidated and thus “collapse,” however, is not a prerequisite to the application of the statute. Section 117 (m) applies, although the corporation proceeds on its way, without collapse, as it appears Kingsway is doing, if taxpayers realize financial benefits which the section dictates are to be considered ordinary income instead of capital gains. See Burge v. Commissioner, 4 Cir., 1958, 253 F.2d 765, 767; Glickman v. Commissioner, 2 Cir., 1958, 256 F.2d 108, 110; Spangler v. Commissioner, 4 Cir., 1960, 278 F.2d 665, 672.

The statute was enacted to stop taxpayers’ alchemy by which they sought to convert ordinary income into capital gains by means of using corporations formed for this purpose. Both the House and Senate Committee reports described a collapsible corporation as “a device whereby one or more individuals attempt to convert profits from their participation in a project from income taxable at ordinary rates to long-term capital gain taxable only at a rate of 25 per cent.” H.R.Rep. No. 2319, 81st Cong. 2d Sess. 96; Sen.Rep. No. 2375, 81st Cong. 2d Sess. 88.

The purpose of the statute was to provide a basis for the Internal Revenue Service to attack schemes employed in certain industries with great frequency, namely, the organization of separate corporations for each particular enterprise. The stock would be sold before a substantial amount of the income which could be expected from the main corporate asset was realized.

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284 F.2d 554, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mintz-v-commissioner-ca2-1960.