Sharp v. United States

263 F. Supp. 884, 18 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5897, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9839
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedOctober 19, 1966
DocketCiv. A. No. 65-H-496
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 263 F. Supp. 884 (Sharp v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sharp v. United States, 263 F. Supp. 884, 18 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5897, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9839 (S.D. Tex. 1966).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

GARZA, District Judge.

This is an action by Frank W. and Lucile Sharp for the recovery of additional federal income taxes and interest assessed against the Plaintiffs for the year 1959 in the sum of $67,902.31. Plain[886]*886tiffs paid the assessment and timely filed a claim for refund. The claim for refund was disallowed and this action was then filed.

Frank W. Sharp will hereinafter be referred to as “Plaintiff” or “Taxpayer”, since his wife is a party only because a joint return was filed.

Two separate and distinct issues are involved, one being whether the amount received by Plaintiff from a corporation in which he owned a fifty per cent stock interest was the result of a liquidation producing capital gains, or a reorganization producing ordinary income; and the second being whether Plaintiff realized taxable gain on the disposition of certain water district bonds in which Plaintiff contends he owned no interest.

Plaintiff has filed his motion for summary judgment on both issues, and Defendant, United States of America, has filed its motion for partial summary judgment, seeking judgment in its favor on the first issue only, contending that material issues of fact exist as to the question of the bonds.

The parties have dealt separately with each of the questions presented by their motions, and the Court will do likewise.

I.

LIQUIDATION VERSUS REORGANIZATION

The parties agree that the facts necessary to determine this issue are established by the pleadings, requests for admissions and answers thereto, the stipulation of facts, exhibits, and depositions.

During 1954, Plaintiff-Taxpayer acquired an interest in approximately 3925 acres of land known as the Westmoreland property. Shortly thereafter he conveyed approximately 297 acres of this land to Sharpstown Development Company (hereinafter referred to as “Development”), a corporation organized in 1954, in which Plaintiff owned a fifty per cent stock interest. The balance of approximately 3628 acres was conveyed to a second corporation known as Sharpstown Investment Company (hereinafter referred to as “Investment”), which was organized in 1954 and in which Plaintiff also owned a fifty per cent stock interest. The remaining common stock of both Development and Investment was held in identical proportions by various members of the Farnsworth family and the Chambers family. The 297 acres conveyed to Development was developed as Section One of the Sharpstown Subdivision. Of the land acquired by Investment, 335.3 acres were sold to Development during the fiscal year ending September 30, 1956, and was thereafter known as Section Two of Sharpstown Subdivision. No other real property was sold by Investment to Development during the existence of those corporations. With minor exceptions, all real property sold by Investment throughout its existence was from the property referred to above as the Westmoreland property. Also with minor exceptions, all lots sold by Development throughout its existence were lots located within Sections One and Two of Sharpstown Subdivision.

In the early part of 1958 the Farnsworth and Chambers families encountered outside financial difficulties and wanted to get out of the corporations, which were in severe financial straits. The shareholders contributed their Investment stock to Development on February 27, 1958. It was also apparent that much of the land owned by Investment would have to be sold in order to meet the obligations of the corporations. On March 24, 1958, Investment sold to the Plaintiff for a recited consideration of $500.00 an option to purchase 2376.82 acres of the Westmoreland property for $8,100,000.00. The option ran from November 1, 1958, through March 24, 1960.

Through the Plaintiff’s efforts, buyers were found and on April 11, 1958, Investment sold the same 2376.82 acres of the Westmoreland property covered by Plaintiff’s option, to Messrs. Smith and Neuhaus for a total purchase price of $5,000,000.00, subject to the option. During April, 1958, Investment sold substantially all of its remaining properties to parties other than Development, the sales totaling 2956.28 acres.

[887]*887On October 16,1958, Sharpstown Realty (hereinafter referred to as “Realty”) was incorporated with capital of $1,000.-00 represented by one thousand shares of common stock with a par value of $1.00 per share. At all times relevant hereto the common stock of Realty was owned one hundred per cent by the Plaintiff and members of his immediate family, and, except for the Plaintiff, no shareholder of Investment or Development owned any of the common stock of Realty.

On November 25,1958, Plaintiff transferred to Realty the option he had purchased from Investment with respect to all but four tracts which were transferred to Realty on December 14, 1959. Investment was liquidated under State law on July 14, 1959, pursuant to a resolution adopted on June 23, 1959. Its assets and liabilities were transferred to Development, and its common stock was surrendered and canceled. On the same date Development was liquidated under State law pursuant to a resolution adopted on June 19, 1959. Its assets and some of its liabilities were distributed to its shareholders as of that date, except for the sum of $60,000.00 which was retained by Development to pay its remaining liabilities. Thereafter through 1962 all remaining liabilities were paid and the balance of the fund retained was distributed to the shareholders by the end of the calendar year 1962, at which time the common stock of Development was surrendered and canceled. After July 14, 1959, Investment and Development conducted no further business except to complete the distribution of assets in dissolution.

Pursuant to the dissolution agreement, Plaintiff received certain non-cash assets of Development with a net value of $53,-918.88 which he sold to Realty for that amount. He also received cash in the amount of $72,628.34.1

On July 31, 1959, Plaintiff increased the capital of Realty to $50,000.00, and forty-nine thousand additional shares of common stock were issued with a par value of $1.00 per share.

During the period from November, 1958, through July, 1959, Realty purchased approximately 57 acres of land under the option acquired from Plaintiff, and during the years 1958, 1959 and 1960 Realty exercised the option with respect to all but 65.056 acres of the land covered by the option agreement, paying in total approximately $7,500,000.00 to Messrs. Smith and Neuhaus to acquire the property.

On his federal income tax return for the calendar year 1959, Plaintiff reported long-term capital gain of $76,547.23 as a result of the distribution received from Development, and paid the appropriate tax thereon. This sum was computed by subtracting the Plaintiff’s basis in the Development stock of $50,000.00 from the total received in liquidation during 1959 of $126,547.23.

Upon audit, the Internal Revenue Service determined that the transaction was [888]*888in substance a reorganization and that Plaintiff realized $118,834.68 of ordinary dividend income as a result of the dissolution distribution.

The Plaintiff contends that the cash and non-cash assets distributed to him by Development were received in complete liquidation of the corporation, and that his gain was properly reported as capital gain pursuant to § 331 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (26 U.S.C.

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Bluebook (online)
263 F. Supp. 884, 18 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5897, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9839, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sharp-v-united-states-txsd-1966.