Powell Coal Co. v. Commissioner

12 B.T.A. 492, 1928 BTA LEXIS 3526
CourtUnited States Board of Tax Appeals
DecidedJune 8, 1928
DocketDocket No. 11945.
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 12 B.T.A. 492 (Powell Coal Co. v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Board of Tax Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Powell Coal Co. v. Commissioner, 12 B.T.A. 492, 1928 BTA LEXIS 3526 (bta 1928).

Opinion

[495]*495OPINION.

Siefkin:

The respondent, in effect, renewed the motion once overruled, to dismiss the proceeding for want of jurisdiction qn the ground that no deficiency has been determined against the petitioner for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1921, within the meaning of section 273 of the Revenue Act of 1924, and that no notice of a deficiency has been issued within the meaning of section 274 (a) of that Act. Section 273 of the Revenue Act of 1924 provides, in part, that the term “ deficiency ” means:

(1) The amount by which the tax imposed by this title exceeds the amount shown as the tax by the taxpayer upon his return; * * *
(2) If no amount is shown as the tax by the taxpayer upon his return, or if no return is made by the taxpayer, then the amount by which the tax exceeds the amount previously assessed (or collected without assessment) as a deficiency; * * *

Under date of June 14, 1921, the petitioner filed a corporation income and profits-tax return for the fiscal year in question showing a total tax due in the amount of $946.58.

[496]*496On January 16, 1922, the petitioner filed an amended income and profits-tax return for the same period showing a total tax due of $11,505.32. With this return was sent a letter in the following terms:

We submit herewith amended returns for the years ended March 31st, 1917, to 1921, inclusive, in compliance with Treasury Decision No. 3220, but in accordance with the provisions of Section 250-D of the Revenue Act of 1921, we respectfully protest against any assessment being made until such time as an oral hearing can be had and additional data submitted in support of our application for assessment under Sections 327 and 328 of the Revenue Law of 1918.
We. also claim that insufficient depreciation has been taken on the returns submitted herewith but on account of the time limit fixed by Treasury Decision mentioned above, we are unable at this time to make the necessary corrections. Additional data in support of this claim will also be submitted at the time when the hearing of this case is held in Washington.

On May 15, 1922, tlie petitioner, pursuant to the provisions of Treasury Decision 3310, filed another amended income and profits-tax return for the same period disclosing a total tax due in the amount of $11,555.32.

On December 21, 1922, the petitioner filed a claim for the abatement of income and profits taxes for the year in question in the amount of $10,558.74.

The respondent, by letter dated May 5, 1925, advised the petitioner that an audit of its return disclosed a total tax due of $11,007.88 and an overassessment of $547.44.

A letter of December 19, 1925, from the respondent sustained the decision in the letter of May 5 and rejected the petitioner’s claim for abatement of $10,588.74. It was. upon this letter that the appeal to the Board was based.

The respondent contends that since the total tax liability for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1921, has been fixed at $11,007.88, and since upon its amended return of May 15, 1922, the petitioner has shown a tax due in the amount of $11,555.32, there has been no determination of a deficiency by the respondent. The respondent insists that the return of the petitioner filed on June 14, 1921, does not constitute the original return of the petitioner.

In E. L. Harris, 5 B. T. A. 1026, we stated:

* * * We have heretofore held that the original return is the return required by law and that there is no statutory authority for the making or acceptance of an amended return. Appeal of National Refilling Co., 1 B. T. A. 236; Appeal of Mabel Elevator Co., 2 B. T. A. 517. The return referred to in section 273 of the Revenue Act of 1924 is the original return — the return which starts the tolling of the statute.

In that case the facts were as follows: The petitioner filed his return for the year 1923. Later he filed an amended return on which was shown an amount of tax in excess of the amount shown on the [497]*497original return. The Commissioner determined a deficiency in the amount of the excess and the petitioner appealed. The Commissioner moved to dismiss upon the ground that he had not determined a deficiency and that, therefore, the Board had no jurisdiction. It was held that inasmuch as the Commissioner had determined a total liability in excess of the amount shown on the original return to be due, there was a deficiency and that the Board had jurisdiction.

We are, therefore, of the opinion that the return filed by the petitioner on June 14, 1921, was the original return of the petitioner, and since the respondent has determined a tax liability greater than the amount shown thereon, a deficiency has been determined. However, even if either of the amended returns were considered the return, we are of the opinion that the respondent has determined a deficiency.

In John Moir, 3 B. T. A. 21, we stated:

The Commissioner in his answer pleaded that the Board is without jurisdiction to hear and determine these appeals for the reason that he has not, since the passage of the Revenue Act of 1924, determined a deficiency in tax in respect to these taxpayers. The Commissioner’s position in this plea is that the taxpayers have been assessed on the basis of the tax shown upon the taxpayers’ returns, and that a deficiency is only an amount of tax determined by him to be due in excess of that shown on the.taxpayers’ return. This is true in the ordinary case, but in cases in which the taxpayer shows an amount of tax upon his return but does not admit that that amount of tax is due and collectible, it is the amount which he admits to be due and not the amount which appears upon the face of his return which is deemed the starting point in the computation of a deficiency. Appeal of Continental Accounting & Audit Co., 2 B. T. A. 761.

In the instant proceeding we find that in accordance with Treasury Decision 3320, the petitioner filed an amended return showing a tax due in the amount of $11,505.32, but in a letter accompanying the return, the petitioner denied that this amount of tax was due.

On May 15, the petitioner, pursuant to the provisions of Treasury Decision 3310, filed another amended return showing a total tax due in the amount of $11,555.32. Apparently no protest was attached to this return but on December 21, 1922, the petitioner filed a claim for abatement of income and profits taxes in the amount of $10,558.74. The Commissioner rejected this claim for abatement in his letter dated December 19, 1925.

We are of the opinion that the respondent has determined a deficiency in tax for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1921, and that we have jurisdiction of the appeal covering that year.

The petitioner alleges errors by the respondent in (1) disallowing a deduction of $5,000 as exhaustion of a contract acquired by the issuance of stock; (2) disallowing a deduction of $1,000 as exhaustion of a lease acquired by the issuance of stock; (3)_ refusing to include the above lease in invested capital at a value of $20,000; (4) disallow[498]

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Powell Coal Co. v. Commissioner
12 B.T.A. 492 (Board of Tax Appeals, 1928)

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Bluebook (online)
12 B.T.A. 492, 1928 BTA LEXIS 3526, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/powell-coal-co-v-commissioner-bta-1928.