Roslyn Fuel Co. v. Commissioner

16 B.T.A. 285, 1929 BTA LEXIS 2605
CourtUnited States Board of Tax Appeals
DecidedApril 30, 1929
DocketDocket Nos. 9074, 22072.
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 16 B.T.A. 285 (Roslyn Fuel 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
Roslyn Fuel Co. v. Commissioner, 16 B.T.A. 285, 1929 BTA LEXIS 2605 (bta 1929).

Opinion

[294]*294OPINION.

Siefkin:

Under Docket No. 9074 the petitioner contends that assessment and collection of the deficiencies for the fiscal years ended June 30, 1917, and June 30, 1918, and for the taxable period of six months ended December 31, 1918, are barred by the statute of limitations.

Section 277 (a) (3) of the Revenue Act of 1920 provides:

The amount of income, excess-profits, and war-profits taxes imposed by the Act entitled “An Act to provide revenue, equalize duties, and encourage the industries of the United States, and for other purposes,” approved August 5, [295]*2951909, the Act entitled “An Act to reduce tariff duties and to provide revenue for the Government and for other purposes,” approved October 3, 1913, the Revenue Act of 1910, the Revenue Act of 1917, the Revenue Act of 1918, and by any such Act as amended, shall be assessed within five years after the return was filed, and no proceeding in court without assessment for the collection of such taxes shall be begun after the expiration of such period.

Returns for each of the years in question up to and including the taxable period ended December 31, 1918, were filed on or before June 14, 1919. In the absence of waivers the time within which taxes could be assessed and collected would expire five years after that date, or June 14, 1924.

By letter of September 17, 1925, the respondent informed petitioner of the determination of deficiencies as follows:

Fiscal year ended June 30,1917_$4, 058. 62
Fiscal year ended June 30, 1918- 1,459.98
Taxable period July 1, 1918, to Dee. 31, 1918- 3,887. 06
Total_ 9, 405. 66

There is no evidence that any consents in writing for later determination and assessments of the taxes for the taxable periods listed above were ever entered into and we must, therefore, hold that assessment and collection of the deficiencies asserted are barred by the statute of limitations.

By an amendment to the petition under Docket No. 9074, the petitioner requested that we find that the petitioner has overpaid its income and profits taxes for the fiscal years ended June 30, 1917, June 30, 1918, and for the taxable period, July 1, 1918, to December 31, 1918, and to determine the amounts of such overpayments.

Section 284 (e) of the Revenue Act of 1926 provides:

If tbe Board finds that there is no deficiency and further finds that the taxpayer has made an overpayment of tax in respect of the taxable year in respect of which the Commissioner determined the deficiency, the Board shall have jurisdiction to determine the amount of such overpayment, and such amount shall, when the decision of the Board has become final, be credited or refunded to the taxpayer as provided in subdivision (a). Such refund or credit shall be made either (1) if claim therefor was filed within the period of limitation provided for in subdivision (b) or (g), or (2) if the petition was filed with the Board within four years after the tax was paid, or, in the case of a tax imposed by this Act, within three years after the tax was paid.

In Greylock Mills, 9 B. T. A. 1281, affd., 31 Fed. (2d) 655, the respondent determined a deficiency for 1917 and the petitioner assigned as errors in the appeal not only that the deficiency was barred, but also that an additional tax which had been paid prior to this time was barred from collection at the time it was collected. We held that the deficiency for 1917 was barred from collection and furthermore took jurisdiction of the other issue and found that this collection was barred at the time made.

[296]*296In Peerless Woolen Mills, 13 B. T. A. 1119, the question raised was whether the Board has jurisdiction to pass on the plea of the statute of limitations which was made in respect to a part of the tax which was shown and assessed on the original return but which had not been paid. In that case the jurisdiction of the Board in the first instance was derived from the assertion of a deficiency by the respondent. In that case we said:

The Commissioner’s determination oí the deficiency in question conferred jurisdiction on the Board; the issue with respect to the statute of limitations on account of the unpaid portion of the original tax was timely raised in the petition, and its determination is a necessary incident to an ultimate finding by the Board as to the petitioner’s true tax liability. The Board is accordingly of the opinion that it has jurisdiction of the issue here presented as to the running of the statute of limitations with respect to the unpaid portion of the tax assessed on the original return.

As to this question, the case was affirmed by the United States Circuit Court Appeals, 5th Circuit, 28 Fed. (2d) 661.

Likewise, in the instant proceeding, since we have jurisdiction of each of the taxable periods referred to in the petitions by virtue of determinations of deficiencies by the respondent, we have jurisdiction to determine the true tax liability of the petitioner for each of those periods, in so far as it is properly presented to us in the pleadings and evidence.

The petitioner contends that the respondent, in computing the invested capital for each of the taxable periods in question, erred in failing to take into account, as paid-in surplus, the value of the coal lands acquired by the petitioner from the principal stockholder definitely known or accurately ascertainable as of the date of acquisition. The petitioner later confined its contention in this regard to only two tracts of land, the Linn tract and the Brown tract.

Petitioner depends upon section 207 of the Revenue Act of 1917 and section 326 (a) of the Revenue Act of 1918. Section 207 of the Revenue Act of 1917 provides:

Sec. 207. That as used in this title, the term “ invested capital ” for any year means the average invested capital for the year, as defined and limited in this title, averaged monthly.
As used in this title “invested capital” does not include stocks, bonds (other than obligations of the United States), or other assets, the income from which is not subject to the tax imposed by this title nor money or other property borrowed, and means, subject to the above limitations:
(a)- In the case of a corporation or partnership: (1) Actual cash paid in, (2) the actual cash value of tangible property paid in other than cash, for stock or shares in such corporation or partnership', at the time of such payment (but in case'such tangible property was paid in prior to January first, nineteen hundred and fourteen, the actual cash value of such property as of January [297]*297first, nineteen hundred and fourteen, but in no case to exceed the par value of the original stock or shares specifically issued therefor), and (3) paid in or earned surplus and undivided profits used or employed in the business, exclusive of undivided profits earned during the taxable year: * * *

The Commissioner’s regulations under the Revenue Act oí 1917 provided:

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Related

Roslyn Fuel Co. v. Commissioner
16 B.T.A. 285 (Board of Tax Appeals, 1929)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
16 B.T.A. 285, 1929 BTA LEXIS 2605, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roslyn-fuel-co-v-commissioner-bta-1929.