Seminole Thriftway, Inc. v. United States

42 Fed. Cl. 584, 82 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 7497, 1998 U.S. Claims LEXIS 305, 1998 WL 905213
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedDecember 21, 1998
DocketNo. 97-121T
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 42 Fed. Cl. 584 (Seminole Thriftway, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Seminole Thriftway, Inc. v. United States, 42 Fed. Cl. 584, 82 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 7497, 1998 U.S. Claims LEXIS 305, 1998 WL 905213 (uscfc 1998).

Opinion

OPINION

YOCK, Judge.

This case comes before the Court on the defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment [586]*586pursuant to Rule 56 of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”). The plaintiff contends that Internal Revenue Code (“I.R.C.”) § 162(a), 26 U.S.C. § 162(a) (1994), permits the plaintiff to deduct as “ordinary and necessary business expenditures” guarantor fees it paid to its shareholders for acting as the plaintiffs guarantors in a financing arrangement. The defendant counters that because the plaintiff had no obligation to pay the guarantor fees to the shareholders, section 162(a) does not permit the plaintiff to take a deduction. Instead, because the plaintiff could have but failed to declare a dividend, and because of the nature of the payments, the defendant likens the payments of the guarantor fees to constructive dividends. Based on the Court’s review of the parties’ briefs and submissions, the Court concludes that the Government prevails as a matter of law. For the reasons set forth below, the defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is granted.1

Factual Background

This case involves the plaintiffs claims for income tax refunds for the 1992, 1993, and 1994 tax years. On March 10,1983, Messrs. Dale Carter, Jess Claiborne, and Dennis Porter, Jr., formed plaintiff Seminole Thrift-way, Inc. (“Thriftway”). Each shareholder contributed $10,000 and loans of $50,000 to Thriftway’s capital. Thriftway issued to each shareholder a third of its authorized 1,000 shares of common stock.

Thriftway owns and operates a supermarket in Seminole, Texas. Soon after incorporation, Thriftway required more capital in order to purchase the necessary land and to pay for the construction and stocking of the store. Thriftway sought out several forms of financing other than taking more capital from its shareholders. On July 6, 1983, Thriftway obtained $1 million in financing from Seminole’s Industrial Corporation Industrial Revenue Bonds (Seminole Thriftway, Inc. Project) Series 1983 (“Bonds”). The Bonds had a 15-year term and were due to mature on July 15, 1998. The Bonds had an annual interest rate equal to the lesser of 80 percent of RepublieBank Dallas’ “prime interest rate,” or 15 percent.

However, Thriftway needed additional third-party help on this financing arrangement because the holders of the Bonds would not have accepted the Bonds without some additional guarantees for their investment. Therefore, as part of the arrangement, Thriftway and the three controlling shareholders executed a guaranty agreement whereby the three shareholders absolutely and unconditionally guaranteed the punctual payment of principal and interest due on the Bonds. The guaranty was irrevocable until all the holders of the Bonds were paid in full with funds not subject to recission or repayment. Although both the plaintiff and the defendant agree that the shareholders guaranteed the Bonds in order to finance the project, to save interest and other costs, and to enhance the marketability of the Bonds, the plaintiff adds that “it was * * * mandatory for them to guarantee the bonds to obtain financing * * (Pl.’s Statement of Genuine Issues at 1110.)

Prior to Thriftway’s decision to pay its shareholders for acting as guarantors, the makeup of the shareholders changed. First, on November 1, 1985, Thriftway hired Mr. John Kildow as general manager of the Seminole store. At this time, each of the three shareholders transferred 70 shares of Thrift-way common stock to Mr. Kildow. Thus, Mr. Kildow owned 210 shares and each controlling shareholder owned 263 and % shares. Second, on October 28, 1987, Mr. Dennis Porter, Jr., transferred all of his shares to his wife, Mrs. Cynthia Porter, because he was a bank director and thought a transfer would more prudently protect their mutual assets.

Three days later, on November 1, 1987, Messrs. Porter, Carter, and Claiborne were elected to serve as Thriftway’s directors for a one-year term. Then, just before the new year, Thriftway, by action of its directors, authorized payments of guarantor fees of 8 percent of the total outstanding indebtedness [587]*587for 1987 and 10 percent of the total outstanding indebtedness for each year beginning in 1988. The parties agree that Thriftway paid the fees as compensation for the risk the controlling shareholders undertook when they agreed to guarantee the Bonds. The plaintiff also maintains that the fees were “to assure that [the controlling shareholders’] personal guarantees would be available in the future * * (PL’s Statement of Genuine Issues at It 16.)

During the 1992, 1993, and 1994 tax years, Thriftway did not pay out either dividends to its shareholders or director’s fees. It deducted $70,231 for guarantor fees for 1992, $35,866 for guarantor fees for 1993, and $29,-199 for guarantor fees for 1994. In addition, the record reflects that despite Thriftway’s reporting of a net operating loss for 1992 related to its losing investment in Stamford Thriftway, Inc., Thriftway was profitable for each of these tax years. The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) disallowed the deductions, and Thriftway paid the resulting tax liability on September 16,1996. At the same time, the plaintiff also filed a claim with the IRS for a refund for each of the deduction amounts. The IRS disallowed the claims on November 20, 1996. Thereafter, on February 25,1997, Thriftway filed its current Complaint with this Court seeking a tax refund.

Discussion

The Court will grant summary judgment when there are no genuine issues of material fact, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. RCFC 56(c); see also Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-49, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the Court will construe all facts in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party and draw all reasonable inferences in the nonmoving party’s favor. See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587-88, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Since there are no genuine issues of material fact outstanding for the purposes of this motion, this Court has the power to decide this matter.

In a tax refund case, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue’s ruling carries a presumption of correctness. See United States v. Janis, 428 U.S. 433, 440, 96 S.Ct. 3021, 49 L.Ed.2d 1046 (1976); Danville Plywood Corp. v. United States, 899 F.2d 3, 7 (Fed.Cir.1990); Whiteside v. United States, 26 Cl.Ct. 564, 566 (1992). The taxpayer has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the Commissioner’s determination is wrong. See Helvering v. Taylor, 293 U.S. 507, 515, 55 S.Ct. 287, 79 L.Ed. 623 (1935); Mulholland v. United States, 28 Fed.Cl. 320, 339 (1993).

A. The Ordinary and Necessary Standard Under Section 162(a)

1.

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42 Fed. Cl. 584, 82 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 7497, 1998 U.S. Claims LEXIS 305, 1998 WL 905213, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/seminole-thriftway-inc-v-united-states-uscfc-1998.