Southern Ford Tractor Corp. v. Commissioner

29 T.C. 833, 1958 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 261
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedFebruary 12, 1958
DocketDocket Nos. 60547, 60548, 60549, 60550
StatusPublished
Cited by50 cases

This text of 29 T.C. 833 (Southern Ford Tractor Corp. 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
Southern Ford Tractor Corp. v. Commissioner, 29 T.C. 833, 1958 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 261 (tax 1958).

Opinion

Mulroney, Judge:

The respondent determined deficiencies in income taxes of the petitioners as follows:

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The 'issues raised by the pleadings in these consolidated cases are (1) whether thé iAdi vidual petitioners realized distributions in the nature of dividends in 1959 or 1953 from the corporate petitioner; (2) whether the rentals accrued by the corporate petitioner on the property rented from Farm Industries, Inc., were in part, or in total, ordinary and nehéssafy business expenses in the years before us; (3) whether the expenditure in fiscal 1951 by the corporate petitioner for filling in and grading real estate owned by the corporate petitioner was a capital "expenditure or aii ordinary and necessary business expense; and (4) whether the expeñditures óf the corporate petitioner in the taxable .year-ended-September 30-, 1953, incident to the installation of a fire-warning system was in the nature of a capital expenditure or an ordinary and necessary business expense. Because of concessions by both parties-, a Tecohiputation under Rule 50 will be necessary.

Bindings of fact.

SoiAe 'of the facts tvere 'stipulated by the parties and are found accordingly.

Petitioner Southern Ford Tractor Corporation, hereinafter referred to as Southern Ford, is -a Louisiana corporation with its principal -address at f>16 Jefferson Highway (formerly 900 Jefferson Highway), New Orleans, Louisiana. Southern Ford kept its books on an accrual basis of accounting and filed its income tax return for the fiscal year ending September 30,1951, with the then collector of internal reyenue for the district of Louisiana, and its income tax returns for the fiscal years ending September 30, 1952 and 1953, with the district director of internal revenue for the same district.

Louis H. Clay and Stuart Sanderson Clay, petitioners in Docket No. 60548, are husband and wife, residing in New Orleans, Louisiana. They timely filed joint returns with the district director of internal revenue at New Orleans, Louisiana, for 1952 and 1953,

The Estate of Mary Creveling Dutton, deceased, and Tom W. Dutton, petitioners in Docket No. 60549, timely filed their joint income tax return for 1952 with the district director of internal revenue at New Orleans, Louisiana. Mary Creveling Dutton, wife of Tom W. Dutton, died May 14,1952.

Tom W. Dutton and Constance Dutton, petitioners in Docket No. 60550, are husband and wife residing in New Orleans, Louisiana. They timely filed a joint income tax return for 1953 with the district director of internal revenue at New Orleans, Louisiana. They were married on August 25,1953.

Southern Ford, during the years before us, was a distributor for Dearborn Motors Corporation, hereinafter referred to as Dearborn, of Ford tractors, implements, and related products to dealers in the State of Louisiana, about two-thirds of Mississippi, and 9 counties in Alabama. The outstanding capital stock of Southern Ford prior to the death of Mary .Creveling Dutton was held as follows:

Shares
Louis H. Olay, Sr__. — ,—„ 499
Mrs. Stuart S. Clay (wife of Louis H. Olay, Sr,) __— 1
Tom W. Dutton_ 500

After the death of Mary Creveling Dutton, 125 shares of the stock held by Tom W. Dutton were acquired by his minor children, Mary Eleanor Dutton and Tom W. Dutton, Jr,, through the medium of their deceased mother’s interest in community property.

The following schedule indicates the facilities owned by Southern Ford on Jefferson Highway and Lake Avenue prior to August 1,1952:

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These facilities were used by Southern Ford both as sales offices and warehouse space.

Beginning in about 1949, Dearborn notified Southern Ford by letter of a planned expansion program. This was followed up by personal representatives5 urging Southern Ford to expand its facilities. It was determined that Southern Ford had inadequate storage, demonstration, and training facilities. It was therefore determined that Southern Ford needed additional space or land for these purposes.

A part of the planned expansion was to increase the Ford line of tractors from 1 model to 12 and to market 120 implements. This required additional capital on the part of the distributors in order to carry a proper inventory of the larger line of equipment. This is demonstrated by the fact that Southern Ford’s inventory increased from a low of approximately $280,000 in September 1948 to a high of approximately $1,000,000 in September 1952. Some of the new line of equipment to be distributed required special equipment for maintenance and special facilities for storage.

Prior to August 1, 1952, Southern Ford had been renting 18,000 square feet of warehouse space at what was formerly Camp Plauche, a temporary Army depot, located at Harahan, Louisiana. This facility burned down leaving Southern Ford without adequate warehouse space.

Southern Ford located a suitable tract of property consisting of approximately 50 acres at Harahan, Louisiana, and determined to acquire it. This property will be referred to as the Harahan property. When it became known to Southern Ford’s banker that it was contemplating purchasing and developing the Harahan property, Southern Ford was advised that it would be easier to finance the purchase and development of the property if another corporation took title to the real estate and Southern Ford could then lease it. It was then determined that the suggestion would be carried out, permitting Southern Ford to acquire the use of the property without having to tie up its needed capital in real estate and development. It was also decided that Southern Ford would sell the real estate previously held by it to the new corporation and also lease it back.

Pursuant to the plan, Farm Industries, Inc., hereinafter referred to as Farm Industries, was organized on July 25, 1952, for the purpose of owning and renting real estate. The outstanding capital stock in 1952 and 1953 was held as follows:

Louis H. Olay, Jr. Shares (son oí Louis H. Olay)_ 50
Tom W. Dutton, Jr., Trust (son of Tom W. Dutton)_ 25
Mary Eleanor Dutton Trust (daughter of Tom W. Dutton)_ 25
Total-100

The initial capitalization of Farm Industries was $10,000, of which Louis H. Clay, Jr., invested $5,000 from his own separate funds.

As of August 1, 1952, Farm Industries purchased the property owned by Southern Ford at Jefferson Highway and Lake Avenue for a consideration of $70,500. Southern Ford reported a gain on this sale of $14,109.91. The sales price for this property was arrived at by the officers of Southern Ford after investigating the cost of purchasing like property and constructing like buildings thereon.

As of August 1, 1952, Farm Industries purchased 32.63 acres of the Harahan property from the Illinois Central Railroad for a consideration of $81,575.

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Bluebook (online)
29 T.C. 833, 1958 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 261, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/southern-ford-tractor-corp-v-commissioner-tax-1958.