Schwarz v. Commissioner

1981 T.C. Memo. 94, 41 T.C.M. 1002, 1981 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 650
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedFebruary 26, 1981
DocketDocket Nos. 6036-76, 11509-77.
StatusUnpublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 1981 T.C. Memo. 94 (Schwarz 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
Schwarz v. Commissioner, 1981 T.C. Memo. 94, 41 T.C.M. 1002, 1981 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 650 (tax 1981).

Opinion

ADOLPH SCHWARZ and CAROL SCHWARZ, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent; SHELDON SERLIN and MARSHA SERLIN, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
Schwarz v. Commissioner
Docket Nos. 6036-76, 11509-77.
United States Tax Court
T.C. Memo 1981-94; 1981 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 650; 41 T.C.M. (CCH) 1002; T.C.M. (RIA) 81094;
February 26, 1981.
William F. Marutzky, for petitioners Adolph and Carol Schwarz.
Sheldon Serlin, pro se.
Lawrence I. Serlin, for petitioner Marsha Serlin.
William E. Bogner, for respondent.

NIMS

MEMORANDUM FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION

NIMS, Judge: In these consolidated cases, respondent*651 determined deficiencies in petitioners' Federal income taxes and additions to tax for 1972 as follows:

Addition to taxAddition to tax
PetitionerDeficiencyunder section 6651(a)under section 6653(a)
Adolph and Carol
Schwarz$ 4,648.20$ 232.40
Sheldon and Marsha
Serlin$ 78,811.68$ 3,945.78$ 4,033.78

The issues for decision are 1) whether petitioners received unreported income during 1972; 2) whether Adolph and Carol Schwarz are entitled to various business deductions; 3) whether Marsha Serlin qualifies as an innocent spouse under the provisions of section 6013(e); 1 and 4) whether petitioners are liable for the additions to tax under sections 6651(a) and 6653(a).

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated. The stipulation and the exhibits attached thereto are incorporated by this reference.

Petitioners Adolph Schwarz ("Schwarz") and Carol Schwarz resided in Hometown, Illinois, at the time their petition was filed in this case. Petitioners Sheldon*652 Serlin ("Serlin") and Marsha Serlin resided in Northbrook, Illinois, at the time their petition herein was filed.

Serlin started a business called Cardet as a sole proprietorship in 1968. He incorporated the business under the name of Cardet International, Inc. ("Cardet") in 1969. Serlin was president and chairman of the board of directors of Cardet from its inception and at all times relevant to this case. Serlin was the sole shareholder of Cardet at first. Subsequently, other persons owned small amounts of Cardet stock.

Cardet originally was a mail order business for household and consumer products. Then, Cardet began selling distributorships or franchises. During 1972, the year in issue, Cardet's income mainly consisted of receipts from the sale of these franchises.

Many persons were induced to buy franchises from Cardet through mailing and newspaper advertisements. Cardet entered into an agreement with a corporation known as Talent Network in 1971 under which Dick Butkus (a former football player for the Chicago Bears) provided an endorsement for Cardet's advertising. The ads described Cardet's business of selling top quality consumer products and appliances, and*653 emphasized the great financial potential of Cardet franchises.

Cardet sold franchises to buyers for $ 5,000 per franchise. Each franchise purportedly entitled the buyer or franchisee to the exclusive right to solicit orders for household and other consumer products in geographical sales territories comprising approximately 2,500 homes. Each month the franchisee would distribute brochures outlining selections of Cardet products to residents of the franchise area who could then order the Cardet products from their own homes. For every order placed in the franchisee's area a commission would be paid.

When a prospective buyer showed an interest in purchasing a franchise, he either went to a Cardet office or a Cardet representative appeared at his home. At that point, various representations were made by the Cardet representatives to the prospective buyers concerning the business operations. In order to finance the purchase of these franchises, Cardet, through its representatives, had arranged for the buyers to obtain loans from Mercantile Loan Corporation ("MLC"). After an agreement on the sale of a franchise was reached, the buyer would borrow $ 5,000 from MLC and endorse over*654 the loan proceeds checks to Cardet as payment for their franchise. The loans were collateralized by the residences of the buyers with MLC taking mortgages on the residences. Because of the deceptive manner in which the buyers were induced to sign the franchise agreement, loan agreement and related documents, the buyers often were not aware that they were granting MLC a security interest in their residences. Misrepresentations were also made about the rate of interest, the amount of prepayment penalties and the time in which the loan would be repaid. Cardet received a finder's fee from MLC for each loan Cardet arranged.

Schwarz sent a resume to Cardet in November, 1971, in response to an advertisement. Since Schwarz did not have enough money to purchase a distributorship, Serlin hired him as an employee of Cardet and agreed to pay him $ 350 per week. At first Schwarz attempted to sell distributorships but was unsuccessful.

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Related

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839 F.2d 602 (Ninth Circuit, 1988)

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1981 T.C. Memo. 94, 41 T.C.M. 1002, 1981 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 650, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schwarz-v-commissioner-tax-1981.