Riley v. Commissioner

35 T.C. 848, 1961 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 217
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedFebruary 28, 1961
DocketDocket No. 59871
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 35 T.C. 848 (Riley 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
Riley v. Commissioner, 35 T.C. 848, 1961 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 217 (tax 1961).

Opinions

KerN, Judge:

The respondent determined deficiencies in the petitioner’s income tax liability in the amounts of $7,549.34 and $10,150.31 for the years ended December 31, 1951 and 1953, respectively. Further, respondent determined an addition to tax in the amount of $1,206.25 for the year 1953, under section 294(d) (1) (A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, for failure to file a declaration of estimated tax on time.

The issues presented for decision are:

(1) Whether respondent erred in determining that petitioner realized a total net profit of $25,761.08 (including an additional unreported profit of $15,052.79) during 1951 as a building contractor for the construction of the Manning Gardens apartments.

(2) Whether respondent erred in determining that petitioner realized a total gain of $27,483.39 in 1953 (including an additional unreported gain of $9,843.42) upon the sale of 500 shares of the common stock of Manning Gardens, Inc., and that such gain is taxable to petitioner as ordinary income from the sale of stock of a collapsible corporation under section 117 (m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939 rather than as a long-term capital gain.

(3) Whether respondent erred in determining an addition to. tax for 1953 for failure to file a timely declaration of estimated tax for that year.

It is stipulated that for the taxable year 1951 petitioner is entitled to a deduction of $1,046.57 for interest paid during 1951 on additional taxes for the years 1947,1948, and 1950.

FINDINGS OF FACT.

Some of the facts have been stipulated. We incorporate herein by this reference the stipulation of facts and exhibits attached thereto and identified therein.

Charles J. Riley, sometimes hereinafter referred to as petitioner, resides in Providence, Rhode Island. During the taxable years involved herein petitioner was unmarried and had no dependents.

Petitioner timely filed his Federal income tax returns for the taxable years 1951 and 1953 with the then collector of internal revenue and the district director of internal revenue, respectively, for the district of Rhode Island. Petitioner and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue duly executed Form 872 for the taxable year 1951, which extended the period of limitation upon assessment of income and profits taxes to June 30, 1956. The notice of deficiency, from which this proceeding was initiated, was mailed to petitioner on August 10,1955.

Petitioner majored in accounting as a student of business administration at Boston University. He worked as an accountant or as an auditor for a number of years prior to 1922. Thereafter until 1953 petitioner had numerous occupations at various times including work as an employee of the State of Rhode Island, operator of a tavern, shipyard worker during World War II, builder of small homes for sale, building contractor, real estate developer, corporate officer, and manager of Manning Gardens apartments.

From 1933 to 1936, inclusive, petitioner was employed by the State of Rhode Island. During the period 1935-1936 petitioner was engaged in assembling records and auditing vouchers for payments to architects and contractors. Petitioner was dismissed from that job. On June 7, 1937, petitioner was indicted on a charge that he falsely and fraudulently did make, forge, and counterfeit a voucher, dated December 18, 1936, for the payment of $7,440 with intent to defraud the State of Rhode Island. Petitioner was tried by a jury and found guilty on May 24,1938, and was sentenced to 1 year in jail and fined. Petitioner’s appeal to the Supreme Court of Rhode Island was not resolved until January 11, 1952, and upon remand the lower court suspended sentence and placed petitioner on probation for 3 years.

During 1947 petitioner was engaged in building small bouses for sale to veterans in a development known as Cole Farm Plat in the city of Warwick, Rhode Island. That project was completed in December 1947.

In or about March 1948 petitioner became interested in constructing an apartment house project under the provisions of section 608 of the National Housing Act, and began seeking a suitable site with appropriate zoning. On or about October 6, 1948, petitioner purchased certain real estate on East Manning Street, Providence, Rhode Island, as a site for the construction of an apartment house. Petitioner then employed a New York firm of architects which inspected the building site and held conferences with the necessary officials so that the plans would conform to the requirements of both the Federal Housing Administration and the Providence building code.

On April 26, 1949, pursuant to the provisions of section 608 of the National Housing Act, the Federal Housing Administration (hereinafter referred to as FHA) completed its “Project Analysis” on the petitioner’s proposed construction of the Manning Gardens apartment project and determined a maximum insurable mortgage thereon in the amount of $296,000.

In its “Project Analysis” for Manning Gardens, the FHA’s estimated replacement cost of the property as of December 31, 1947, and also its estimated present replacement cost of the property were as follows:

Replacement cost of property—
As of Dec. Si,
1947 Present
1. Improvements to land- $8, 270 $8, 585
2. Structures (dwellings)_ 253,756 263,424
3. Fees (builder 5 percent — architect 5 percent)_ 26, 857 27, 880
4. Carrying charges, and financing_ 11, 768 11, 768
5. Legal and organization- 2, 800 2, 800
6. Fair market price of land_ 25, 653 25, 653
Total estimate of replacement cost_ 329, 104 340, 110

The FHA’s determination of the maximum amount of the insurable mortgage was based upon lowest of 5 amounts, namely, $296,193 representing 90 percent of the total estimated replacement cost of $329,104 of the property as of December 31, 1947; $311,657 representing the total present costs for all physical improvements, carrying charges, and financing (the first four items in the above tabulation) ; $318,916 representing “Amount based on limitation as to debt service ratio” (net income, after operating expenses and taxes, $21,028 X 91%=$19,135-h6% total debt service items); $299,700 representing “Amount based on limitation per unit” (37 units X $8,100); and $296,000 representing “Mortgage amount stated in application.” The FHA’s estimated net income, after operating expenses and taxes, in the amount of $21,028 was based on 93 percent occupancy.

Under the Administrative Rules and Regulations for Rental Housing Insurance under section 608 of the National Housing Act, the FHA would not insure a mortgage in excess of $200,000 unless the mortgagor was a corporation or a trust.

On May 23, 1949, Manning Gardens, Inc.

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Riley v. Commissioner
35 T.C. 848 (U.S. Tax Court, 1961)

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Bluebook (online)
35 T.C. 848, 1961 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 217, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/riley-v-commissioner-tax-1961.