Park Sherman Co. v. United States

29 T.C. 175, 1957 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 50
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedOctober 30, 1957
DocketDocket Nos. 698-R, 707-R, 699-R.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 29 T.C. 175 (Park Sherman Co. v. United States) 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
Park Sherman Co. v. United States, 29 T.C. 175, 1957 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 50 (tax 1957).

Opinion

Fisher, Judge:

The War Contracts Price Adjustment Board determined that petitioners had the following excessive profits from certain contracts subject to renegotiation:

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By motions duly granted, the United States was substituted for the War Contracts Price Adjustment Board as respondent in each of the three proceedings which were then consolidated. The principal issue is whether petitioners had sales subject to renegotiation during the fiscal years involved. If decided affirmatively, a further issue to be decided is whether petitioners realized excessive profits on those sales in the amounts determined.

FINDINGS OF FACT.

Certain facts have been stipulated and are hereby found.

Park Sherman Company, hereafter referred to as petitioner, and Park Bloomington, Inc., hereafter referred to as Bloomington, are corporations organized and existing under the laws of Illinois. Petitioner is a successor to Slianklin Manufacturing Company, organized about 1932. Since that date Jacob S. Sherman and members of his family have owned it. Bloomington, at all times petitioner’s wholly owned subsidiary, conducted all business with its parent.

During part of World War II, the Quartermaster General, United States Army, procured cigarette lighters for all branches of the United States Armed Forces. Petitioner, one supplier of lighters, entered into written contractual arrangements with the United States, acting by and through the Quartermaster General, to supply such lighters.

About November 1943, the Quartermaster General was charged with the responsibility of purchasing cigarette lighters for the Army. At about this time he assumed central procurement of lighters for all Armed Forces, and also assumed procurement previously done by the Army Exchange Service. Accordingly, all Army Exchange Service contracts were canceled and where necessary, replaced by contracts entered into by the United States acting through the Quartermaster General. A buyer from the Jersey City Quartermaster Depot, assigned this function, proceeded to buy lighters for the Quartermaster Corps, for resale to post exchanges.

The Quartermaster General immediately assigned to the Army Exchange Service certain contracts for lighters entered into by him and petitioner. The renegotiation clauses in those contracts were overprinted. On December 6, 1943, the Navy Department notified Ship’s Service Activities that ship’s service departments within the continental United States would procure lighters only by purchase orders forwarded to the Ship’s Service representative, United States Navy, at the Army Exchange Service. Ship’s Service Activities afloat and outside the United States were to obtain lighters through the Navy Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, at least after January 1, 1944.

Normally, the Quartermaster General prepared a list of items, including lighters, based partly on requests from theater commanders as to quantities needed for a future period. On receiving the requisition then issued, the Jersey City Quartermaster Depot entered into contractual arrangements for lighters with various suppliers, including petitioner.

Prior to World War II, petitioner manufactured miners’ lamps and cigarette lighters. Because of the scarcity of lighters, a procurement specialist for the Quartermaster General requested in 1944 that petitioner manufacture “Zippo”-type lighters, the type in greatest demand among members of the Armed Forces.

Petitioner, from May 26 through September 30, 1945, entered into 17 written agreements with the Jersey City Quartermaster Depot, acting on behalf of the Quartermaster General, wherein it promised to supply lighters. About December 20,1944, it entered into a similar written agreement with the Navy.

During the period involved, petitioner realized income of $55,661.57 from shipments made to ship’s service departments at various Navy depots and Army exchanges. Petitioner did not sell or ship these items under the aforementioned 18 contracts.

Lighters purchased under the Quartermaster contracts not assigned to the Army Exchange Service were to be paid for in two ways:

(a) Petitioner shipped lighters having total sales prices of $748,537.40 during the fiscal year ended June 30,1945, and $228,560.70 during the period ended December 31, 1945, to various War and Navy Department depots. The usual method of payment followed with respect to these shipments was for the Government to issue Treasury warrants to petitioner through the Quartermaster General or the Navy after submission of vouchers by petitioner.

(b) Petitioner shipped lighters having a total amount of $118,728 for the period ended June 30, 1945, and $125,120.90 for the period ended December 31, 1945, to various governmental agencies, principally ship’s service departments in various naval depots. Petitioner billed those agencies although the lighters had been contracted for by the War Department. With respect to the seven contracts so handled:

All contracts arose from offers made by petitioner and accepted by Quartermaster contracting officers. All contained renegotiation clauses.

Two contracts, dated June 27, 1944, specifically deleted paragraphs relating to assignment to the Army Exchange Service. The Quartermaster Corps permitted Navy Ship’s Service representative to utilize these contracts. Under one of the two contracts, petitioner shipped to and billed various ship’s service departments, and in some instances at least, received payment by checks drawn on private banks. Petitioner made some of these shipments to the officers in charge at Navy depots. Petitioner, in applying for Government assistance, described this last contract as “prime,” stating that lighters were being made exclusively for this agency.

The Quartermaster General assigned five of these contracts to the Navy Department. One, dated December 3'0, 1944, includes 93,888 lighters also covered in the one contract entered into directly with the Navy Department. Under this same assigned contract, the Quartermaster Corps also placed orders, immediate execution of one of which it requested in March 1945. In September 1945, petitioner forwarded refund checks due on this contract, payable to the Treasurer of the United States, to the Jersey City Quartermaster Depot. Twice in July 1946, the Quartermaster General requested a complete statement of deliveries, prices, refunds, and refund checks relative to price reductions, since he had no record of receiving the benefit of the price reductions.

On another of the contracts assigned to the Navy, petitioner received a preference rating.

The Treasury warrants issued to petitioner were drawn upon a military appropriation not in the nature of a revolving fund. No other Department of the Government had a contract with the War Department to purchase lighters from it.

Petitioner’s sales, operating profits, and ratio of operating profits to sales for 1936 through. 1944 were as follows:

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During the year ended June 30, 1945, and the 6 months ended December 31, 1945, petitioner had the following sales and profits:

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Related

Greenland Contractors v. Renegotiation Board
54 T.C. 177 (U.S. Tax Court, 1970)
Park Sherman Co. v. United States
29 T.C. 175 (U.S. Tax Court, 1957)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
29 T.C. 175, 1957 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 50, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/park-sherman-co-v-united-states-tax-1957.