Rialto Realty Co. v. United States

366 F. Supp. 253, 32 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6154, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11259
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 2, 1973
DocketCiv. A. No. 72-229
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 366 F. Supp. 253 (Rialto Realty Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rialto Realty Co. v. United States, 366 F. Supp. 253, 32 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6154, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11259 (E.D. Pa. 1973).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

HUYETT, District Judge.

This is a federal tax refund case in which plaintiff, Rialto Realty Company, Inc., challenges defendant’s disallowance of interest deductions 1 taken by plaintiff for the years 1963 through 1967. The case presents the frequently litigat[254]*254ed question whether certain corporate obligations represent debt or equity.2 The parties have stipulated to the facts. This opinion represents our findings of fact and conclusions of law required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a). Jurisdiction is conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 1346(a)(1) (1970).

FACTS

This action involves interest payments made by the Plaintiff, Rialto Realty Company, Inc., to holders of its 6% Mortgage Bonds Plaintiff issued on January 1, 1954. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Commissioner) disallowed as a deduction on the Federal income tax returns filed by the Plaintiff for the years 1963 through 1967, inclusive, the total amount of the interest payments as follows:

Year Mortgage Bond Amount Interest Paid Disallowed

1963 $12,000 $12,000

1964 10,500 10,500

1965 6,750 6,750

1966 ' 4,500 4,500

1967 6,000 6,000

Plaintiff paid the deficiencies assessed by the Commissioner attributable to disallowance of deductions for the interest payments, paid interest on said deficiencies, and filed timely Claims for Refund ,s follows:

Year Income Tax Deficiency Paid Interest on Deficiency Paid Amount of Claim for Refund

1963 $ 6,240.00 $1,533.93 $ 7,773.93

1964 5.250.00 975.56 6,225.56

1965 1966 1.365.00 2.160.00 171.75 220.26 1,536.75 2,380.26

1967 2,788.00 116,83 2,904.83

$17,803.00 $3,018.33 $20,821.33

After the Commissioner disallowed the Claims for Refund, Plaintiff commenced this action.

Rialto Realty Company, Inc. was organized on December 11, 1947 and continuously has maintained its principal place of business in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The original Certificate of Incorporation provided, in Article Fourth, for an authorized capital stock of 2,000 shares of $100 par preferred stock and 5,000 shares of no par value common stock, all of which was issued at the time of incorporation and remained outstanding thereafter. As of December 31, 1953, the authorized and outstanding stock of the corporation was held by the following individuals, all of whom are related:

Stockholder Common Preferred Stock Stock

Morris Senderowitz 1.250 500

Lena Senderowitz 1.250 500

Anna S. Jalkut 416% 250

Robert Senderowitz 4162/3 375

Samuel J. & Ethel J. Senderowitz 4162/3 375

Mae S. Gabriel 4162/j 0

Hattie Sachs 4162/3 0

Gertrude S. Rapoport 4162/3 0

Total shares 5,000 2,000

Stated or Par Value $4.50 $100

Total Capital $22,500.00 $200,000.00

In 1953, the board of directors, then consisting of Morris Senderowitz, Lena Senderowitz, Anna Senderowitz Jalkut, and Robert Senderowitz proposed a plan to reorganize the capital structure of the corporation. The plan of reorganization provided, inter alia: (a) that the no par value common stock and the $100.00 par value preferred stock be eliminated, and, in lieu thereof, that there should be 5,000 shares of $100.00 par value common stock, (b) that all the shareholders of the 5,000 shares of no par value common stock should exchange their shares for a total of 1,000 shares of the $100.00 par value common stock in the ratio of five (5) shares of no par common for one (1) share $100.00 par common, and (c) that the shareholders of the 2,000 shares of $100.00 preferred stock should exchange said stock for Plaintiff’s $1,000 face value 6% Mortgage Bonds in the ratio ten (10) shares of preferred stock for one (1) Mortgage Bond.

[255]*255The stated purposes of this reorganization, according to the corporate minutes, were:

1. To lay the ground work and to simplify the necessity for corporate action for any major improvements or alterations to the premises of the Corporation, since it will only be necessary to deal with one class of Stockholders.
2. To simplify the classes of stock outstanding so that there will be only one class of stock, to wit, common, and also to eliminate the potential voting differences inherent by the preferred and common Stockholders.
3. To eliminate the premium to be paid to preferred Stockholders ($10.00 over par) upon the retirement of their stock, since the bonds will only be redeemable at par.
4. To eliminate the necessity of recalling all of the preferred stock at one time whereas the mortgage bonds can be redeemed in installments at the option of the Corporation.
5. To effect a substantial saving in corporate taxes, although not in personal taxes of the preferred Stockholders, since the interest on the bonds, but not the dividends on the preferred stock, constituted a legitimate deduction on the taxable income of the Corporation.

The minutes also reflect the following:

The President [Morris Senderowitz] further reported that the preferred Stockholders will retain their priority of distribution because the bonds will be payable ahead of common Stockholders, but the amount of their proprietary interest in the Corporation will not be altered because the preferred stock was and the bonds will be payable in fixed amounts. [Exhibit “A” to Stipulation of Facts].

This proposal for reorganization was carried out by the filing of an Amendment to the Certificate of Incorporation on June 23, 1953, making the change in the capital structure effective January 1, 1954.3 On that date, the stockholders exchanged their preferred and common stock proportionately for bonds and new common stock in the following manner:

Stockholder Old Common New Common

No. Value No. Value

Morris Senderowitz 1.250 $ 5,625 250 $ 25,000

Lena Senderowitz 1.250 5,625 250 25,000

Anna S. Jalkut 4162/3 1,958 • 83 Vs 8,333

Robert Senderowitz 4162/3 1,958 83V3 8,333

S. J. and E. J. Senderowitz 4162/3 1,958 83V3 8,333

Mae S. Gabriel 4162/3 1,958 83V3 8,333

Hattie Sachs 4162/3 1,958 83V3 8,333

Gertrude S. Rapoport 4162/3 1,958 83V3 8,333

TOTALS 5,000 $22,500 1,000 $100,000

Old Preferred Bonds

Morris Senderowitz 500 $ 50,000 50 $ 50,000

Lena Senderowitz 500 50,000 50 50,000

Anna S. Jalkut 250 25,000 25 25,000

Robert Senderowitz 375 37,500 38 38,000

S. J. and E. J. Senderowitz 375 37,500 37 37,000

Mae S. Gabriel 0 0 0 0

Hattie Sachs 0 0 0 0

Gertrude S. Rapoport _0 _0_ 0 0

TOTALS 2,000 $200,000 200 $200,000

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Rialto Realty Company v. United States
503 F.2d 1399 (Third Circuit, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
366 F. Supp. 253, 32 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6154, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11259, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rialto-realty-co-v-united-states-paed-1973.