Noteman v. Welch

26 F. Supp. 437, 22 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 715, 1939 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3165
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedJanuary 16, 1939
DocketLaw Nos. 7186, 7195, 7196
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 26 F. Supp. 437 (Noteman v. Welch) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Noteman v. Welch, 26 F. Supp. 437, 22 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 715, 1939 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3165 (D. Mass. 1939).

Opinion

FORD, District Judge.

The plaintiffs in the above named three actions which have been consolidated for trial, the facts, except for the amounts involved, being similar in each case, seek to recover the sums of $3,579.07, $13,-381.65, and $8,528.60, respectively, with interest from October 4, 1937, representing the corporate surtaxes, penalties, and interest assessed against and collected from them as trustees of the-National Loan Society of Malden, the National Loan Society of Boston, and the National Loan Society of Cambridge, hereinafter called the taxpayers, upon the undistributed adjusted net incomes of the latter for their respective fiscal years ending September 30, 1935.

These Societies are associations organized under declarations of trust in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and under the provisions of 26 U.S.C. § 1696, 26 U.S.C.A. § 1696, are corporations for tax purposes.

The taxes, interest, and penalties were assessed and collected from the plaintiffs as a result of a determination of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue that the above named associations were personal holding companies and subject to surtax under the provisions of Section 351 of the Revenue Act of 1934, 48 Stat. 751, 26 U.S.C.A. § 331.

Section 351 reads as follows:
“Title IA — Additional Income Taxes “Sec. 351. Surtax On Personal Holding Companies.
“(a) Imposition of Tax. — There shall be levied, collected, and paid, for each taxable year, upon the undistributed adjusted net income of every personal holding company a surtax equal to the sum of the following:
“(1) 30 per centum of the amount thereof not in excess of $100,000; plus
“(2) 40 per centum of the amount thereof in excess of $100,000.
“(b) Definitions. — As used in this title—
“(1) The term ‘personal holding company’ means any corporation (other than a corporation exempt from taxation under section 101, and other than a bank or trust company incorporated under the laws of the United States or of any State or Territory, a substantial part of whose business is the receipt of deposits, and other than a life-insurance company or surety company) if — (A) at least 80 per centum of its gross income for the taxable year is derived from royalties, dividends, interest, annuities, and (except in the case of regular dealers in stock or securities) gains from the sale of stock or securities, and (B) at any time during the last half of the taxable year more than 50 per centum in value of its outstanding stock is owned, directly or indirectly, by or for not more than five individuals.”

Statements of fact and conclusions of law appearing herein are intended to meet the requirements of Rule 52 of the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A. following section 723c.

On December 6, 1935, the taxpayers filed their corporate income tax returns on Form 1120 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1935, reflecting tax liabilities which were paid. No returns were filed by the taxpayers on Form 1120-H prescribed to be filed under the conditions referred to in Treasury Regulations 86, Article 351-8.

On August 12, 1937, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue notified the taxpayers of deficiencies in surtax under Section 351 of the Revenue Act of 1934 and surtax penalties for failure to file a personal holding company return (Form 1120 -H). The taxpayer filed a waiver of restrictions on the assessment and collection [439]*439of the deficiencies, assenting to their immediate assessment and collection. On September 7, 1937, the Commissioner prepared returns on Form 1120-H in accordance with the proposed deficiencies. On September 17, 1937, the surtax deficiencies, interest, and penalties were assessed and paid by the taxpayers. A claim for refund was filed on October 6, 1937, on these grounds: (1) That the taxpayers were not subject to the provisions of Section 351 of the Revenue Act of 1934 for the fiscal years in question and that no taxes were due upon their undistributed adjusted net incomes; (2) that Section 351 cannot be constitutionally applied (under the provisions of the Fifth Amendment, Const.U. S.C.A.) to impose the surtax set forth therein upon the taxpayers; and (3) that whether the Commissioner was correct or not in determining the deficiencies and imposing the surtaxes, the penalties were imposed without authority of law. These claims were rejected and the suits are properly before this Court.

It was stipulated between the parties that during the tax years in question more than 50 per cent in value of the outstanding stock of the plaintiff companies was owned directly or indirectly by and for not more than five individuals, and the only remaining question left for decision on this phase of the case is whether at least 80 per cent of the gross income of the taxpayers for the tax years in question was derived from “interest” as used in Section 351, supra.

The gross and only income of the taxpayers for the tax years in question was derived from payments received on loans made by the taxpayers and is reflected in item 7 of their tax returns opposite the designation “Interest on loans, notes, etc.,” where all the words following the word “interest” are stricken out and the words “and charges for Small Industrial Loans” substituted, so as to read: “Interest and charges for Small Industrial Loans.”

It is argued by the taxpayers that their income — what they received for the use of the money loaned- — was a composite of and several into (1) interest; and (2) charges or expenses of making, servicing, and collecting the loans, and the latter consisted of such a proportion of the whole that far less than 80 per cent of their income was derived from “interest” as used in Section 351 and consequently they were not subject to the taxes in question.

This brings us to the question as to what is the meaning of the word “interest” as used in Section 351.

These associations did business under the provisions of Chapter 140, Massachusetts General Laws (Ter.Ed.), commonly known as the “Small Loans Act,” Section 96, which reads as follows:

“Business of making small loans defined and regulated. No person shall directly or indirectly engage in the business of making loans of three hundred dollars or less, if the amount to be paid on any such loan for interest and expenses exceeds in the aggregate an amount equivalent to twelve per cent'per annum upon the sum loaned, without first obtaining * * * a license * * *.”

Section 100 of this Act reads as follows :

“Rate of interest.

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Related

Noteman v. Welch
108 F.2d 206 (First Circuit, 1939)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
26 F. Supp. 437, 22 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 715, 1939 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3165, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/noteman-v-welch-mad-1939.