Securities Co. v. Commissioner

25 B.T.A. 446, 1932 BTA LEXIS 1523
CourtUnited States Board of Tax Appeals
DecidedFebruary 2, 1932
DocketDocket Nos. 40553, 40554.
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 25 B.T.A. 446 (Securities 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
Securities Co. v. Commissioner, 25 B.T.A. 446, 1932 BTA LEXIS 1523 (bta 1932).

Opinion

[452]*452OPINION.

Tkammell :

This proceeding has been submitted upon a stipulation of facts including a copy of the “ Plan and Agreement of Reorganization.” We have set forth as paragraph 20 of the findings of fact pertinent provisions of said plan. Paragraph 19 of the stipulation as set forth in our findings consists of a computation made and submitted by the petitioners to the respondent as a proposed basis for a settlement of these proceedings.

In the consolidated return the petitioners took a deduction of $40,882.50 as a loss on the sale of the 3,000 shares of the common stock of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company in 1924. In the proposed basis for settlement submitted to the respondent they computed the amount of the loss at $34,458.47. In their brief they contend that they are entitled to deduct a loss of $42,106.57 or an additional amount of $1,224.07 in excess of the deduction taken in the return. The respondent contends .that the petitioners not only did not sustain any deductible loss on the sale of the stock in 1924, but realized a profit of $10,117.50.

Pertinent provisions of the Revenue Act of 1924 are as follows:

Seo. 202. (a) Except as hereinafter provided in this section, the gain from the sale or other disposition of property shall be the excess of the amount realized therefrom over the basis provided in subdivision (a) or (&) of section $0J/, and the loss shall be the excess of such basis over the amount realized. [Italics supplied.]
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[453]*453Sec. 203. (a) Upon the sale or exchange of property the entire amount of gain or loss, determined under section 202, shall be recognized, except as hereinafter provided in this section, (b) * * * (2) No gain or loss shall be recognized if stock or securities in a corporation a party to a reorganization are, in pursuance of the plan of reorganization, exchanged solely for stock or securities in such corporation or in another corporation a party to the reorganization.
* * * * ‡ * *
Sec. 204. (a) The basis for determining the gain or loss from the sale or other disposition of property acquired after February 28, 1913, shall be the cost of such property; except that—
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(6) If the property was acquired upon an exchange described in subdivision (b), (d), (e), or (f) of section 203, the basis shall be the same as in the case of the property exchanged, decreased in the amount of any money received by the taxpayer and increased in the amount of gain or decreased in the amount of loss to the taxpayer that was recognized upon such exchange under the laws applicable to the year in which the exchange was made.. * * *

It is thus seen that section 202 provides the method for computing gains or losses while section 203 provides what gains or losses shall be recognized for purposes of taxation under the Act. Section 204 provides the basis upon which gains or losses shall be computed under section 202.

The parties have stipulated that in 1909 the Securities Company purchased 4,000 shares of the capital stock of the Missouri Pacific Railway Company at an average cost of $70.36875 per share, or at a total cost of $281,475. On June 11, 1913, the Securities Company purchased an additional 1,000 shares of the capital stock of the Missouri Pacific Railway Company at $26% per share, or at a total cost of $26,125.

Sometime in 1913 and subsequent to June 11, the Securities Company sold 1,000 shares of the stock of the Railway Company for $30,467.50. Since the 1,000 shares thus sold were not identified, it becomes necessary to apply the rule of “ first in, first out ” and to hold that the shares were part of the purchase made in 1909. George W. Megeath, 5 B. T. A. 1274; David Stewart, 17 B. T. A. 604.

As a result of the foregoing transaction the Securities Company owned, at the time of the reorganization of the Missouri Pacific Railway Company, 3,000 shares of the stock of that company which were purchased in 1909 at a cost of $70.36875 per share, or a total cost of $211,106.25, and had a market value of $37.75 per share, or a total market value of $113,250 on March 1,1913. The Securities Company also owned the 1,000 shares of stock purchased on June 11, 1913, at a cost of $26,125.

Pursuant to the plan of reorganization the Securities Company paid to the “ Readjustment Managers ” an amount equal to $50 per share of stock held in the old Railway Company. In the stipulation [454]*454submitted by the parties it is stated that such payment was an assessment. The other evidence in the record however is inconsistent with this stipulation and shows that it was not an assessment. The “ Plan and Agreement of Reorganization ” shows that the deposit of stock with the depositaries or subdepositaries, and the payment of the amount of $50 per share of stock so deposited as provided therein was purely voluntary on the part of the stockholders of the Missouri Pacific Railway Company. The stockholders were free to elect whether they would participate in the reorganization. But in order to participate in the reorganization under the plan and agreement it was necessary for the stockholders to deposit their stock and to make the payment required by such plan and agreement. Instead of there being a mere exchange of stock in the old company for common stock in the new company and cash for bonds, the two were inseparable. The stockholders had to turn in their stock in the old company plus $50 per share and received in return therefor an equal number of shares of common stock in the new company and bonds of the new company of a par value equal in amount to the cash paid.

The petitioners contend that the profit or loss from the sale of the stock in 1924 is to be computed under the provisions of section 204 (a) (6) of the Revenue Act of 1924, since the transaction in 1917 whereby the common stock and bonds in the new company were acquired for stock in the old company plus the cash payment comes within the provisions of section 203 (b) (2) of that act. The respondent contends that the provisions of section 204 (a) (6) are not applicable, for the reason that the transaction in 1917 does not come within any of the subdivisions (b), (d), (e), or (f) of section 203, because the Securities Company gave stock and cash for stock and bonds.

In our opinion the respondent’s contention is correct. The provisions of section 204 (a) (6) are applicable only if the property sold was acquired upon an exchange described in subdivision (b), (d), (e), or (f) of section 203. The petitioners do not contend that the transaction in 1917 comes within the provisions of the subdivisions (d), (e), or (f) of section 203. They contend that the transaction was one whereby 4,000 shares of common stock in the new company and $200,000 principal amount of its bonds were received in exchange for 4,000 shares of stock in the old company, thereby bringing the transaction within subdivision (b) of section 203. This subdivision deals with an exchange, pursuant to a plan of reorganization, of stock or securities in a corporation a party to the reorganization solely for stock or securities in the same corporation or in another corporation a party to the reorganization. From what has been said heretofore, we think it is clear that the transac[455]

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Related

Securities Co. v. Commissioner
25 B.T.A. 446 (Board of Tax Appeals, 1932)

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Bluebook (online)
25 B.T.A. 446, 1932 BTA LEXIS 1523, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/securities-co-v-commissioner-bta-1932.