Skaneateles Paper Co. v. Commissioner

29 B.T.A. 150, 1933 BTA LEXIS 988
CourtUnited States Board of Tax Appeals
DecidedOctober 24, 1933
DocketDocket No. 21561.
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 29 B.T.A. 150 (Skaneateles Paper 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
Skaneateles Paper Co. v. Commissioner, 29 B.T.A. 150, 1933 BTA LEXIS 988 (bta 1933).

Opinion

[154]*154OPINION.

•Tbammell :

The petitioner suggests in its brief that we are without jurisdiction in this case because of certain facts appearing in the record, to which reference will be made seriatim hereinbelow. No such question was raised in the pleadings, but since the jurisdiction of this Boardi is prescribed and limited by the statute, we deem it our duty, in all cases where the essential jurisdictional facts do not clearly appear from the record, to consider and determine first of all whether we do or do not have jurisdiction of the proceeding.

The first question of jurisdiction suggested by the petitioner arises from the following facts: (1) The deficiency notice of September 29, 1926, from which this appeal was taken, was addressed to “ Skan-eateles Paper Company, Skaneateles, New York,” (2) which corporation had been consolidated with two other corporations on or about January 31, 1922, to form the Oswego Falls Corporation, and on that date the component corporations had been dissolved by operation of law, and (3) the petition filed with the Board was signed “ Skaneateles Paper Company, By Its Sole Beneficiary Oswego Falls Corporation, of Fulton, New York, By S. C. Stiver, Secretary.”

In Bowman Hotel Corp., 24 B.T.A. 1193, precisely the same jurisdictional question, arising from a parallel state of facts, was considered by us and decided in the affirmative. On authority of that decision we hold that, in so far as the point here considered is concerned, we have jurisdiction to redetermine the deficiency involved in the instant case. See also Oswego Falls Corp., 26 B.T.A. 60, and cf. Burnet v. San Joaquin Fruit & Investment Co., 52 Fed. (2d) 123, followed by us in San Joaquin Fruit & Investment Co., 28 B.T.A. 395.

The next question suggested by the petitioner touching our jurisdiction of this proceeding is predicated upon the fact that two deficiency notices were mailed to the taxpayer covering the same taxable [155]*155year. Under date of December 5, 1925, the respondent mailed a deficiency notice to the taxpayer substantially in the same form as the second deficiency notice dated September 29, 1926, from which the present appeal was filed, and each deficiency notice purported to advise the taxpayer of the respondent’s final determination of its tax liability. No appeal was taken from the first deficiency notice, and by letter dated January 12,1926, the respondent advised the taxpayer as follows:

Reference is made to your letter dated 11-28-25 requesting- that your profits tax for the year 1917 be computed under Sec. 210 of the Revenue Act of 1917.
The provisions of the 60-day letter * * * dated December 5, 1925, may he disregarded.

Under the Revenue Act of 1924, after having sent the taxpayer a deficiency notice, the Commissioner nevertheless had the right, without revoking the first notice, to send a second deficiency notice covering the same taxable year. J. W. Bowman, 8 B.T.A. 526. Cf. Dallas Brass & Copper Co., 3 B.T.A. 856; Gilbert B. Goff, 18 B.T.A. 283; Corn Products Refining Co., 22 B.T.A. 605. This right was taken away by section 274 (f) of the Revenue Act of 1926 if the taxpayer appealed to the Board from the first deficiency notice, and after the enactment of the latter act the Commissioner in such case was prohibited from determining any additional deficiency, except that he was authorized to assert a claim for increased deficiency at or prior to the hearing or rehearing before the Board.

In the instant case, the taxpayer did not appeal to the Board from the first deficiency notice, and the respondent, therefore, was not prohibited from sending the second notice under the 1926 act. Lewis E. Smoot, 25 B.T.A. 1038. See also Miami Metals Co., 10 B.T.A. 421, and City Baking Co., 10 B.T.A. 593.

As stated in City Baking Co., supra, the second deficiency notice constituted respondent’s final determination of the petitioner’s tax liability, and, having been mailed subsequent to the enactment and in pursuance of the provisions of the Revenue Act of 1926, and an appeal having been filed with the Board within 60 days thereafter, we have jurisdiction to redetermine the deficiency.

The petitioner also questions our jurisdiction in respect to the jeopardy assessment of $25,302.18. The amount was assessed by the respondent on March 14, 1924, and 12 days later the taxpayer filed its claim in abatement. By notice of December 5, 1925, the respondent notified the taxpayer of his determination of a deficiency in the amount of $545.20, which was in addition to the jeopardy assessment of $25,302.18, and in the notice respondent further advised the taxpayer that its claim for abatement of the jeopardy assessment would be rejected in full. Thereafter, in order to give consideration to the taxpayer’s request for special assessment of its [156]*156profits tax, the respondent on January 12,1926, advised the taxpayer that the provisions of the notice of December 5, 1925, might be disregarded.

The withdrawal of the deficiency notice applied to the rejection of the claim for abatement of the jeopardy assessment as well as to the determination of the additional deficiency of $545.20. On April 24, 1926, respondent mailed to the taxpayer a 30-day letter advising of the tentative determination of an additional deficiency of $545.20, and in that letter it was further stated that “ In accordance with the foregoing conclusions, your claim for the abatement of $25,302.18 will be rejected in full.”

The final deficiency notice of September 29, 1926, which is the basis for this appeal, makes specific reference to the letter of April 24, 1926, for further explanation of the deficiency. Thus, the deficiency letter of September 29, 1926, constituted respondent’s notice to the taxpayer of the final rejection of its claim in abatement, and in this situation section 283 (e) of the Revenue Act of 1926 confers upon us jurisdiction to redetermine the entire deficiency, including the jeopardy assessment.

However, even if the deficiency notice of September 29, 1926, had made no reference to the final rejection of the claim for abatement of the jeopardy assessment, since our jurisdiction has been invoked to redetermine the additional deficiency of $545.20, we may consider all facts determinative of the petitioner’s tax liability for the year 1917, including the redetermination of the jeopardy assessment and any question of limitation properly before us. Friend M. Aiken, 10 B.T.A. 553; Peerless Woolen Mills, 13 B.T.A. 1119; Peerless Woolen Mills v. Rose, 28 Fed. (2d) 661; Melville W. Thompson, 18 B.T.A. 1192; Northern Anthracite Coal Co., 21 B.T.A. 1116.

The petitioner pleads the statute of limitations in bar of the collection of the jeopardy assessment of $25,302.18, and in bar of both assessment and collection of the additional deficiency of $545.20. This issue is to be determined in the light of the following facts: The taxpayer filed its income and profits tax returns for the year 1917 on March 29, 1918, and the five-year period for assessment and collection, provided in section 250 (d) of the Revenue Act of 1921, expired not later than March 29, 1923. On February 14, 1921, the taxpayer executed a so-called “ unlimited waiver ” which, under the Commissioner’s Mimeograph 3085 of April 11, 1923, expired April 1, 1924.

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Skaneateles Paper Co. v. Commissioner
29 B.T.A. 150 (Board of Tax Appeals, 1933)

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Bluebook (online)
29 B.T.A. 150, 1933 BTA LEXIS 988, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/skaneateles-paper-co-v-commissioner-bta-1933.