Pitt v. United States

209 F. Supp. 624, 10 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5554, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4975
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Missouri
DecidedAugust 13, 1962
DocketNo. 12777-1-3
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 209 F. Supp. 624 (Pitt v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pitt v. United States, 209 F. Supp. 624, 10 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5554, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4975 (W.D. Mo. 1962).

Opinion

DUNCAN, J.

This action was instituted by the plaintiffs in two counts under §§ 1340-1346 (a) (1) Title 28 U.S.C.A. against the defendant to recover the sum of $43,043.73 with interest thereon from July 29, 1959, as a refund of income taxes alleged to have been improperly and illegally collected by the defendant for the year 1954, and the sum of $7,759.54 with interest from July 29, 1959, as a refund of income taxes alleged to have been improperly and illegally collected by the defendant for the year 1955.

The case is before this court on Stipulation of Facts and testimony offered by the plaintiffs concerning the circumstances under which the trust estate upon which the tax was levied, was created, and the value of the securities in the hands of the deceased, William P. Pitt, at the time of the execution of the will creating the trust. Defendant offered no testimony and there is no dispute as to the facts, and the court’s findings are as follows:

On October 28, 1926, William P. Pitt transferred his estate to the Fidelity National Bank and Trust Company, in trust, for investment and reinvestment, subject to his approval.

On November 19, 1930, the Fidelity Bank, Trustee, with Pitt’s approval, entered into contracts for loaning money to a new corporation (Twenty One West Tenth Street Building Co.) for construction of an office building at Tenth and Baltimore in Kansas City, Missouri, carrying 6% interest from date of advancement. The “Twenty One Co.” was incorporated October 17, 1930, by Pitt and Joseph A. Bruening with a capital stock of $10,000.00 divided equally.

The Fidelity Bank, Trustee, borrowed the money for the advancements from itself, the Fidelity Bank, on notes with interest signed by Fidelity Bank, Trustee, and by Pitt. The Fidelity Bank, Trustee, loaned to the Twenty One Co. for construction costs under the above mentioned contracts, the sum of $328,484.60, and in addition, paid $5,000.00 for the capital stock. No payment was ever made on the principal amount of these advances.

The investment was unprofitable during the next several years and a reorganization was agreed upon resulting in the incorporation of Insurance Exchange Building, Inc., on February 27, 1943. Title to the office building was conveyed to the new company subject to all indebtedness including the contract debt owing Pitt.

On March 1,1943, the above mentioned debt with accumulated interest amounted to $519,616.22. At approximately the same time the trust to the Fidelity Bank was revoked and the trust estate returned to Pitt, and thereupon 1 fft exchanged the said indebtedness, owing him for $217,-000.00 in notes of Insurance Exchange Building, Inc., and 200 shares of its capital stock, whereupon the Pitt indebtedness was cancelled.

Included among the assets of the terminated trust were $20,000.00 face value bonds of Tokyo Electric Light and Power Company, which at this time had no value due to a state of war existing between the United States and Japan.

Marital difficulties existed between Mr. and Mrs. Pitt for many years prior to his death, and the parties had separated. Mr. Pitt had moved to New Jersey in 1937, and although Mrs. Pitt once consulted a lawyer about the possibility of a divorce after the separation, she abandoned plans for a divorce and never pursued the matter further.

Shortly before June 20, 1947, Mrs. Pitt became fearful that in the distribution of his estate Pitt would exclude their [626]*626two daughters from his will, and with this in mind, some negotiations were instituted between her and her husband which resulted in a conference which took place prior to June 20, 1947.

Mrs. Pitt’s request was that their children should share equally with Pitt’s children by a former marriage; she did not request that any specific amount be settled upon them. Pitt agreed to make a will, which Mrs. Pitt contended was to be irrevocable, with the specific provisions for his wife and for their two children, and for his daughter Mildred. He suggested a specific amount of $75,000.00 to be shared equally by them before the son Fred D. Pitt should share in the estate. The evidence reveals that Fred D. Pitt had received business assistance from his father which prompted this provision.

The oral contract to make an irrevocable will provided for the payment of $150.00 per month to Elma Pitt for her life and for specific legacies and residuary bequests to the two children of Pitt and his wife, Elma Pitt, in consideration of the surrender by her of all her marital rights in his estate, as recited at the bottom of page seven of said will of William Pitt, over her signature. The will was drafted in complete accordance with the oral understanding the parties had at this conference, and was executed on June 20, 1947.

In Article V of the will, plaintiffs, Fred D. Pitt and E. H. McVey were appointed to be the trustees of the trust expressed in the will.

After Mr. Pitt’s death on May 30, 1950, all of the assets of his estate, including the 200 shares of stock of Insurance Exchange Building, Inc., and $20,-000.00 face value of Tokyo Electric Light and Power Co., bonds remained under the jurisdiction of the Surrogate’s Court of Union County, New Jersey, for probate administration.

E. H. McVey, one of the plaintiffs in this action, was the sole executor of Mr. Pitt’s probate estate. The executor filed a timely federal estate tax return which listed as assets the above mentioned securities. It has been agreed that at the decedent’s death the value of each of these assets was as follows:

200 Shares Insurance Exchange Building, Inc., $90,000.00

$20,000 face value Tokyo Electric Light and Power Company 0.00

In May of 1953, after the termination of probate proceedings, all remaining estate assets passed to the plaintiffs as trustees under the trust created by the decedent.

In 1954, the trust sold the 200 shares of Insurance Exchange Building, Inc., stock for a consideration of $220,000.00, and also sold $4,000.00 face value of the Tokyo bonds for $3,266.68. In its 1954 fiduciary income tax return, the trust used as its basis for these securities in computing gain or loss, the alleged cost to decedent, and reported capital losses of $82,616.22 on the sale of the Insurance Exchange shares and $343.32 on the sale of the Tokyo bonds. Because of other sales it showed a net long term capital loss of $71,383.34.

For its 1955 fiduciary income tax return, the trust claimed a capital loss carry-over from 1954 and also reported a gain of $98.94 on the sale of the remaining Tokyo bonds for $14,501.84, again claiming decedent’s basis as the basis to the trust in determining gain or loss.

Upon audit and review of these returns, the Internal Revenue Service disallowed the claimed losses and loss carryovers, and determined that the trust had realized gains from the sale of the aforementioned assets, using as the trust’s basis for these assets in computing gain or loss their fair market value at the date of decedent’s death. The Internal Revenue Service determined that the trust had realized a long-term capital gain of $130,000.00 on the sale of the Insurance Exchange Building, Inc., shares, and a long-term capital gain of $3,266.68 on the sale of $4,000.00 face value Tokyo bonds in 1954, and also a long-term capital gain of $14,501.84 during 1955.

[627]

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209 F. Supp. 624, 10 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5554, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4975, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pitt-v-united-states-mowd-1962.