Peters v. Commissioner

51 T.C. 226, 1968 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 31
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedOctober 31, 1968
DocketDocket No. 2511-66
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 51 T.C. 226 (Peters 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
Peters v. Commissioner, 51 T.C. 226, 1968 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 31 (tax 1968).

Opinion

Bruce, Judge:

The respondent determined deficiencies in income tax and additions to tax under section 6653(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 for negligence or intentional disregard of rules and regulations, for the calendar years 1959 through 1964, as follows:

Year Deficiency Addition to tax, sec. 6653(a), I.R.C. 1954
1959_ $1, 284. 00 $64. 20
1960_ 1, 386. 48 69. 32
1961_ 1, 310. 61 65. 53
1962_ 1, 526. 31 76. 32
1963_ 1, 606. 19 80. 31
1964_ 676. 53 33. 83

The issues for decision are (1) whether the petitioners received taxable income in the taxable years which they failed to report, (2) whether respondent erred in disallowing deductions claimed for contributions, casualty losses, work tools, and medical expenses, (3) whether petitioners are liable for the additions to tax determined by respondent, and (4) whether the deficiencies determined for the years 1959 through 1961 are barred by the statute of limitations.

EINDINGS OK PACT

The petitioners were residents of Seattle, Wash., at the time the petition herein was filed. They filed joint Federal income tax returns on the cash basis for the calendar years 1959 through 1964 with the district director of internal revenue at Tacoma, Wash.

Gaylord C. Peters was employed as a machinist by the Boeing Airplane Co. The petitioners’ tax returns reported the following amounts of wages received from Boeing:

Year Amount
1959 $6, 714.45
1960 6, 726.13
1961 7,014. 84
Year Amount
1962 $7, 646. 88
1963 7,168. 42
1964 8,573.96

The petitioners reported no other income on their returns.

Kenneth L. Moran was a salesman for a real estate dealer in Seattle in 1957. In September 1957 the petitioners were looking for a home and were shown several prospective homes by Moran.

A few days later Mary Ellen Peters, herein sometimes referred to as the petitioner or as Mary Ellen, telephoned Moran at his office. She represented herself as Jeanne K. Gillette, and said she was a cousin of Mary Ellen Peters. On this occasion and in subsequent telephone calls she identified Jeanne as a daughter of a Judge Leonard Gillette, of Minnesota. As Jeanne, petitioner telephoned Moran daily or oftener and aroused his interest. When he asked to see her, she said she was staying at Eanier Beach with an aunt and uncle who disapproved of Moran and that her uncle would shoot him if he came to see her. In later calls petitioner, as Jeanne, told Moran that she had cancer and needed money to pay for nurses and for treatments. Moran took a job as longshoreman in order to have a steady income and offered to give Jeanne a part of his wages to help pay her medical and nursing expenses. Petitioner, as Jeanne, told him to give the money to Mary Ellen for transmission to her. This was in about December of 1957 or January of 1958. Moran was told that the nurse cost $100 per week and occasional treatments by machine cost $40 each. He endeavored to furnish enough money to meet these expenses. He retained from his weekly earnings $10 for his mother and $20 for himself and turned over the remainder to Mary Ellen for delivery to Jeanne. Petitioner sent Moran pictures, purportedly of Jeanne, and small gifts. Moran bought a diamond engagement and wedding ring set at a cost of $300 and gave them to petitioner for delivery to Jeanne. On one occasion he borrowed $200 from a friend. During the telephone conversations petitioner, as Jeanne, suggested to Moran that he visit Mary Ellen and her daughters and go with them to various entertainments. Moran, at this suggestion, accompanied petitioner and her daughters to restaurants, movies, wrestling matches, hookey games, and occasionally to beaches. The petitioner’s daughters ages were about 12, 9, and 7 in 1959 and 17, 14, and 12 in 1964. On these occasions petitioner gave Moran money to pay the bills. Petitioner sometimes had Moran come to the Peters’ house for dinner and packed lunches for him. On some occasions petitioner bought clothes for Moran, and gave him money to buy a used car when his car broke down.

Moran turned over money to petitioner for delivery to Jeanne during 1959 and subsequent years until June of 1964.

In June 1964 Moran became suspicious and investigated. He discovered that there was no such person as Jeanne Gillette, and went to the police. He brought charges against Mary Ellen, who, on August 14, 1964, pleaded guilty to grand larceny committed during the period intervening between June 19, 1961, and June 12, 1964. On September 30,1964, judgment and sentence was entered in the Superior Court of the State of Washington for the County of King, against Mary Ellen Peters adjudging her guilty of grand larceny and sentencing her to the penitentiary for not more than 15 years, with the sentence suspended on certain conditions including restitution.

Kenneth L. Moran filed individual Federal income tax returns for the calendar years 1959 through 1963 on September 8, 1964, and a return for 1964 on or about April 15, 1965. The returns for 1959 to 1963 state his occupation as longshoreman, employed by Waterfront Employers of Washington. The returns reported the following amounts:

Year Income Wages tax PICA withheld State Loss by Tax and sales swindle refund tax claimed
1959. $8,519.53 $1,407.14 $120.00 $42.00 $5,432.39 $909.21
1960. 9,125.71 1,511.74 144.00 42.00 5,909.97 985.52
1961. 8,679.23 1,440.30 144.00 42.00 5,534.93 929.79
1962. 9,837.68 1,647.77 150.00 42.00 6,479.91 1,090.30
1963. 10,695.94 1,781.62 174.00 42.00 7,080.32 1,189.42
1964. 10,416.44 1,418.47 (1) 116.50 3,264.00 101.27

On Moran’s tax returns deductions were claimed as theft losses, or losses through swindle and false pretenses. Claims for refund were filed for 1961,1962, and 1963.

The following computation shows the amounts transferred to Mary Ellen Peters by Moran for transmission to “Jeanne Gillette”:

1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1
Gross income... $8,519.53 $9,125.71 $8,679.23 $9,837.68 $10,595.94 $4,493.37
Income tax withheld. 1,407.14 1,511.74 1,440.30 1,647.77 1,781.62 768.64
R.I.O.A. withheld. 120.00 144.00 144.00 150.00 174.00 75.07
Health insurance withheld. 85.20 91.26 86.79 93.38 105.96 44.93

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Bluebook (online)
51 T.C. 226, 1968 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 31, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peters-v-commissioner-tax-1968.