Roob v. Commissioner

50 T.C. 891, 1968 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 65
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedSeptember 17, 1968
DocketDocket Nos. 4126-66, 4127-66
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 50 T.C. 891 (Roob 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
Roob v. Commissioner, 50 T.C. 891, 1968 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 65 (tax 1968).

Opinion

Withey, Judge:

Respondent determined deficiencies in petitioners’ income tax for the years and in the amounts as follows:

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The cases have been consolidated and will be decided together.

The issues presented for our determination are:

(1) Whether respondent correctly reallocated dividends received by the shareholders of Roob Studio, Inc., in order to reflect the value of services rendered to the corporation by Walter J. Roob, a shareholder.

(2) Whether the $1,000 received in 1964 by Roob Studio, Inc., in accordance with the “franchise agreement” entered into with Donald and Marilyn Wick, is subject to tas as gain on the sale or exchange of a capital asset or as ordinary income.

FINDINGS OP PACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated and are found accordingly.

Walter J. Roob (hereinafter Walter) and Mary S. Roob (hereinafter Mary), husband and. wife, were residents of Milwaukee, Wis., during the taxable years in question, 1962 through 1964.1 During those years, petitioners filed separate Federal income tax returns with the district director of internal revenue at Milwaukee, Wis.

For a number of years prior to February 28,1962, petitioners operated a photography studio in Milwaukee, Wis., as a partnership known as Roob & Roob. From March 1,1962, to the present time, the business formerly operated by the partnership of Roob & Roob has been operated by a corporation known as Roob Studios, Inc. (sometimes hereinafter referred to as the studio), an electing small business corporation within the meaning of section 1371 of the 1954 Code.2 For the taxable years ended December 31, 1962, 1963, and 1964, the corporation filed Federal income tax returns as a small business corporation with the district director of infernal revenue, Milwaukee, Wis.

Upon the incorporation of Roob Studio, Inc., on February 12,1962, Walter and Mary each received 60 shares of the studio’s stock in exchange for their partnership assets. On or about the same date, the studio issued 60 shares of its stock to each of Walter and Mary’s seven children, and upon the birth of their eighth child, an additional 60 shares was issued to him on August 24, 1964. The amount of dividends received by each shareholder during the years in question was as follows:

1962 -$1, 047. 74
1963 - 528. 86
1964 - 2,450. 67

The entire stock of the studio is owned by the petitioners and their eight children. Although petitioners are the only two shareholders who render services to the studio, dividends in the form required by section 1373 of the Code3 were included in the gross income of each of the corporate shareholders for the years in question. In the case of petitioners’ children, separate savings accounts were maintained for them into which were deposited the corporate dividends paid upon their stock.

Walter has been a professional photographer since 1941 when he was employed by Schroeder Studios during the Christmas season. His education in photography consisted of attendance at Milwaukee Yocational School, Art Center School of Photography in Los Angeles, Army Air Force School in Lowry Field, Colo., and graduation from both Les Vogue School of Photography in Chicago and the Monona School of Photography in Indiana. While at Lowry Air Force Base, he learned all phases of photographic background and camera repair, later becoming an instructor of motion-picture photography as it related to Air Force gunsight equipment. Walter’s instructorship at Lowry Field lasted for 5 or 6 months, after which period he was sent to England to assist in establishing a special type of reconnaissance base which employed new theories of photographic coverage utilizing high-speed aircraft at low altitudes. He engaged in the project until V-E Day. After leaving the service, Walter was yearbook photographer for Marquette University from late 1945 through 1949, being employed as a student photographer doing work for Marquette’s School of J oumalism.

Mary has been a professional photographer since 1943. While in high school, she began working in the photography department at two mercantile establishments. After high school graduation and during her freshman year in college, she did photography work on a part-time basis. She subsequently went to the professional photography department of Layton School of Art for 3 years. Following that, she worked at a photography studio for a short time until she married Walter in October 1949.

Shortly after their marriage, petitioners began their photography business, working out of their home. In the following year, 1950, they opened a studio in Milwaukee, Wis., which location is still used by them to conduct their photography business. Petitioners have devoted full time to the development of the business, relying on fulltime domestic help to assist in the care of their children. Mary’s responsibilities in the business include performing approximately 95 percent of the studio’s printing work, as well as photographic retouching and photographic coloring with brush oils and light oils. She also closely supervises the various photographic techniques carried on in the studio to assure quality control. In addition, she assists Walter in obtaining new accounts and in selling their services generally, although they also rely on other employees to sell. Basically, each petitioner attempts to complement the work of the other in the business.

As a result of long hours and hard work by both petitioners, their photography business has grown into a successful operation. The high quality of their work is evidenced by the receipt of numerous awards by the studio, including an award of Photographic Craftsmen which, at the time it was made, was one of only 44 in the world. The studio has also received print awards almost every year, as well as awards for petitioners’ speaking engagements on various panels, including the National Association of Photographers of America, and various other associations in Canada and the United States. The studio also maintains membership in a number of professional societies, including the Professional Photographers of America, the Wisconsin Professional Photographers Association, and the Greater Milwaukee Photographers. Two of the associations to which petitioners belong are established for masters of photography and photographic craftsmen, membership therein being by invitation only.

During the years in question, the studio reported net sales, gross profit, and taxable income as follows:

Year Net sales Gross profit Taxable Income
1962_ $129, 546. 89 $64, 256. 61 $9, 429. 71
1963___ 179, 802. 36 72, 522. 52 4, 759. 72
1964___ 199,554.97 86,480.35 24,506.69

For these same years, the studio claimed a deduction for compensation paid to petitioners, as corporate officers, in the following amounts:

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Roob v. Commissioner
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Bluebook (online)
50 T.C. 891, 1968 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 65, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roob-v-commissioner-tax-1968.