Solano v. Commissioner

62 T.C. No. 64, 62 T.C. 562, 1974 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 67
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedJuly 31, 1974
DocketDocket No. 2728-71
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 62 T.C. No. 64 (Solano 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
Solano v. Commissioner, 62 T.C. No. 64, 62 T.C. 562, 1974 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 67 (tax 1974).

Opinion

OPINION

Simpson, Judge:

The respondent determined a deficiency of $514.17 in the Federal income tax of the petitioner for the year 1969. The issue for decision is whether the petitioner, a United States citizen and bona fide resident of Spain, may exclude the portion of the income which was earned by her husband, a nonresident alien, by the performance of personal services in Spain, and which was attributable to her by virtue of the community property law of Spain.

All of the facts have been stipulated, and those facts are so found.

The petitioner, Helen Robinson Solano, is a citizen of the United States and maintained her residence in Madrid, Spain, at the time her petition was filed in this case. She filed an individual income tax return for the year 1969 with the director of international operations, Washington, D.C. She reported income in accordance with the cash method of accounting.

In 1969, the petitioner was a bona fide resident and domiciliary of Spain. She first went to Spain to live in 1956 and, in 1960, married Ramon Solano, a Spanish citizen. No antenuptial contract was entered into by the petitioner and Mr. Solano, and the couple have continuously resided together in Spain since the marriage.

In 1969, the petitioner was a civilian employee of the United States Air Force in Spain, and her husband was a bullfighter. In that year, the petitioner received a salary of $7,692.80, and Mr. Solano had income after expenses in the amount of $5,806, attributable to the performance of personal services as a bullfighter. All of Mr. Solano’s income was received from a source without the United States and was not received from the United States or an agency of the United States.

In her individual income tax return for the year 1969, the petitioner excluded from income $3,846, one-half of her salary from the United States, as attributable to her husband, a nonresident alien, under Spanish community property law. In addition, she recognized that $2,653 of her husband’s income was attributable to her under Spanish community property law, but claimed exclusion or exemption of such share of her husband’s income under the provisions of section 911 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.1 In his notice of deficiency, the respondent disallowed the claimed exclusion for the petitioner’s share of the income of her husband.

The parties Rave stipulated that, for purposes of this case, the petitioner’s right to income earned by the petitioner and her husband is governed by the community property law of Spain. Under the provisions of the Spanish Civil Code (S.C.C.), persons about to be married may, by contract, provide for their rights in and the administration of the property which may accrue to them during the course of their marriage to each other. In the absence of such contract, all marriages are deemed to be contracted under the regime of legal conjugal partnership. Art. 1315, S.C.C. The conjugal partnership begins on the same day as the marriage is celebrated. Art. 1393, S.C.C. The earnings and profits of the spouses during the marriage belong to the husband and wife, share and share alike. Art. 1392, S.C.C. In all matters in which the rule of partnership law is not in conflict with the rules of conjugal partnerships, the conjugal partnership is governed by the rules of partnership law. Art. 1395, S.C.C.

It is undisputed that under Spanish community property law, the petitioner had a vested interest in one-half of the earnings of her husband. See Estate of Jose Simon, 40 B.T.A. 651 (1939); Rev. Rul. 68-81, 1968-1 C.B. 40, applicable for years beginning on or after Feb. 19,1968, by Rev. Rul. 69-213, 1969-1 C.B. 34; see also Ramon R. Santiago, 61 T.C. 53, 57 (1973), on appeal (C.A.D.C. Jan. 14,1974). For purposes of the issue before us, such interest is not materially different than the interest of a spouse in the income generated by the community or conjugal partnership in community property jurisdictions such as Washington State (Poe v. Seaborn, 282 U.S. 101 (1930); Fink v. United States, 454 F. 2d 1387 (Ct. Cl. 1972), certiorari denied 409 U.S. 844 (1972); Graham v. Commissioner, 95 F. 2d 174 (C.A. 9, 1938), reversing a Memorandum Opinion of this Court); California (United States v. Malcolm, 282 U.S. 792 (1931); Renoir v. Commissioner, 321 F. 2d 605 (C.A. 9, 1963), affirming 37 T.C. 1180 (1962)); Louisiana (United States v. Mitchell, 403 U.S. 190 (1971); Bender v. Pfaff, 282 U.S. 127 (1930); see also Pugh, “The Spanish Community of Gains in 1803: Sociedad de Gananciales,” 30 La. L. Rev. 1 (1969-70)); and the Philippines (Katrushka J. Parsons, 43 T.C. 331 (1964)).

The petitioner contends that under section 911(a) the income in her hands is exempt from taxation even though actually earned by her husband. She claims the exclusion of foreign-earned income is analogous to the credit for earned income under section 31 of the Revenue Act of 1928, and that under such section, earned income attributable to a wife by virtue of local community law qualified for the credit. See Graham v. Commissioner, supra; see also Fink v. United States, supra. Under such approach, she claims to have met all the requirements of section 911 (a) for exclusion. In the alternative, the petitioner contends that lier husband was a nonresident alien and that the income he earned was exempt because it was derived from personal services performed by him in Spain. See sec. 872; see also secs. 862 and 871. She claims that because such income was exempt in the hands of her husband, it is equally exempt in hers.

Section 911(a)(1) applies to citizens of the United States and allows them to exclude:

In the case of an individual citizen of the United States who establishes to the satisfaction of the Secretary or his delegate that he has been a bona fide resident of a foreign country or countries for an uninterrupted period which includes an entire taxable year, amounts received from sources without the United States (except amounts paid by the United States or any agency thereof) which constitute earned income attributable to services performed during such uninterrupted period. * * * [2]

“Earned income” is defined by section 911 (b) to include “wages, salaries, or professional fees, and other amounts received as compensation for personal services actually rendered.”

Section 872(a), which applies to nonresident aliens, provides that the gross income of such an individual includes only “gross income which is derived from sources within the United States” and “gross income which is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the United States.” Section 861 enumerates those items of gross income which are to be treated as income from sources within the United States, and section 871 sets forth the manner in which the gross income of a nonresident alien individual is taxable.

A similar controversy was involved in Katrushka J. Parsons, supra. In that case, the petitioner was a citizen of the United States who was married to a nonresident alien and was a bona fide resident of a foreign country which was a community property jurisdiction.

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Solano v. Commissioner
62 T.C. No. 64 (U.S. Tax Court, 1974)

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Bluebook (online)
62 T.C. No. 64, 62 T.C. 562, 1974 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 67, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/solano-v-commissioner-tax-1974.