Rugby Prods. v. Commissioner

100 T.C. No. 35, 100 T.C. 531, 1993 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 35, 16 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 2722
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedJune 14, 1993
DocketDocket No. 11645-91
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 100 T.C. No. 35 (Rugby Prods. 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
Rugby Prods. v. Commissioner, 100 T.C. No. 35, 100 T.C. 531, 1993 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 35, 16 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 2722 (tax 1993).

Opinion

OPINION

NlMS, Judge:

Respondent determined a deficiency in and additions to petitioner’s Federal income tax liability for petitioner’s tax year ended July 31, 1987, as follows:

Additions to tax
Deficiency Sec. 6651 Sec. 6653(a) Sec. 6661
$182,872 $45,090 $9,147.05 $45,718

Respondent’s notice of deficiency, dated March 15, 1991, contains the following notation:

*For returns required to be filed after December 31, 1981 and on or before December 31, 1986, if the * * * [addition to taxj under Section 6653(a) applies, the * * * [addition to tax] under Section 6653(a)(2) will also apply in an amount equal to 50% of the interest payable with respect to the portion of such underpayment which is attributable to negligence. For returns required to be filed after December 31, 1986 and on or before December 31, 1988, if the * * * [addition to tax] under Section 6653(a)(1)(A) applies, the * * * [addition to tax] under Section 6653(a)(1)(B) will also apply in an amount equal to 50% of the interest payable with respect to the portion of such underpayment which is attributable to negligence.

Unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to sections of the Internal Revenue Code in effect for the taxable year in issue.

After concessions, the issues remaining for decision are whether petitioner may deduct the premiums paid on a high-limit monthly disability income insurance policy insuring a stockholder who, with her now deceased husband, owned all of petitioner’s stock, and who was also petitioner’s key employee; and whether petitioner is liable for the additions to tax for negligence and substantial understatement of income tax as these additions to tax relate to the substantive issue.

This case was submitted fully stipulated. The stipulation of facts and related exhibits are incorporated herein by this reference.

Petitioner is a Delaware corporation. When the petition was filed petitioner’s principal place of business was located in Los Angeles, California.

Petitioner is a personal service corporation. During the taxable year in question all of petitioner’s stock was owned by Joan Rosenberg and her now deceased husband, Edgar Rosenberg, as community property.

Petitioner’s principal source of income was from the personal services of its key employee, Joan Rosenberg, a professional entertainer.

On July 29, 1986, petitioner applied to Lloyd’s of London for a policy which would pay $75,000 per month for 60 months in case of temporary total disability of the insured for accident or sickness, with premiums to be paid annually for 3 years. The proposed “assured” was petitioner, and the proposed “insured person” was Joan Rivers Rosenberg. Petitioner was also named beneficiary. Lloyd’s of London thereafter issued its high-limit monthly disability income insurance policy effective for 3 years commencing August 8, 1986, payable as above described. The first premium was $62,427.75 and was paid by petitioner on August 8, 1986. It is unclear when the second annual premium was paid, but since the IRS disallowed a disability expense deduction in the amount of $115,492, it is apparent that two annual premiums were deducted within the fiscal year before the Court.

On August 5, 1986, petitioner’s board of directors adopted the following preambles and resolutions:

WHEREAS, it is the consensus of this meeting that the establishment of an employee accident and sickness plan which provides the employee with wage continuation benefits during periods of absence from work due to personal injuries or sickness will advance the best interest of the corporation through the improvement of its relationship with its employees, and WHEREAS, it is desirable to make such an accident and sickness plan available to specified individual employees for reason of the valuable services performed by said employees.
NOW THEREFORE, be it
RESOLVED that the Secretary of this corporation is authroized [sic] and directed to take such steps as may be necessary to establish an insured accident and sickness plan, as authorized under the provisions of Section 105(b)(d) [sic] and Section 106 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, for the benefit of the aforementioned employees; and be it further
RESOLVED that in order to put the plan into effect, the Treasurer be and hereby is authorized to pay insurance premiums due on any accident or sickness policy or policies issued by Lloyds [sic] of London #893/D24966 to a covered employee to provide the benefits of or pursuant to the said plan.

It was the intention of petitioner’s officers, accountants, and insurance agents to pay over any proceeds received under the policy to Mrs. Rosenberg and for petitioner not to retain any portion of the proceeds. These facts were known to Mrs. Rosenberg.

The $115,492 in premiums paid by petitioner during the year in question was not included in the employee compensation paid to Mrs. Rosenberg, or reported as income on her individual tax return.

No benefits were paid under the policy, which has since expired.

In a nutshell, petitioner argues that it created an insured accident and sickness plan providing benefits to its employee, Mrs. Rosenberg. Under this plan, says petitioner, any insurance benefits received by Mrs. Rosenberg as employee, attributable to contributions by petitioner as employer, would be includable in Mrs. Rosenberg’s gross income under section 105(a). By the same token, premiums paid by petitioner would not be includable in the gross income of Mrs. Rosenberg, as employee, by virtue of section 106(a).

Respondent argues that the deductibility of insurance premiums as a business expense depends upon the purpose of the policy and that the premiums in this case are not deductible. However, expenditures are not allowed as deductions when paid or incurred to recover tax-exempt income by virtue of section 265(a)(1). Since petitioner rather than Mrs. Rosenberg is by its terms the beneficiary of the policy in question, any proceeds would be tax-exempt income under section 104(a)(3). Respondent also argues that the totality of petitioner’s actions with regard to the policy did not constitute a “plan” within sections 105 and 106. Thirdly, respondent argues that the insurance program did not constitute part of a compensation package, which is essential for deductibility of premiums by an employer. The corollary of this argument is that the purpose of petitioner’s plan was to pay benefits to Mrs. Rosenberg in her capacity as a controlling shareholder, not as an employee.

Sections 104, 105, and 106 are interrelated. For 1986 and 1987, the relevant parts of these sections provided:

SEC. 104. COMPENSATION FOR INJURIES OR SICKNESS.
(a) In General. — Except in the case of amounts attributable to (and not in excess of) deductions allowed under section 213 (relating to medical, etc., expenses) for any prior taxable year, gross income does not include—

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Rugby Prods. v. Commissioner
100 T.C. No. 35 (U.S. Tax Court, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
100 T.C. No. 35, 100 T.C. 531, 1993 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 35, 16 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 2722, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rugby-prods-v-commissioner-tax-1993.