Souza v. Commissioner

33 T.C. 817, 1960 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 211
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedFebruary 8, 1960
DocketDocket No. 66156
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 33 T.C. 817 (Souza 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
Souza v. Commissioner, 33 T.C. 817, 1960 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 211 (tax 1960).

Opinion

OPINION.

Black, Judge:

The first issue presented is whether, as petitioner contends, he was present in Peru for a period of 510 days during an 18-month period so as to entitle him to exclude under the provisions of section 911(a) (2) 1 of the Internal Eevenue Code of 1954,2 from gross income earnings he received from sources outside the United States. Respondent has determined that petitioner was not present in Peru or any foreign country when he was fishing more than 3, but less than 200, nautical miles from the shores of Peru. Petitioner argues that because Peru claimed sovereignty extending 200 miles into the Pacific Ocean from its shores, performed acts under color of such claim, and subjected petitioner to extensive regulation under such claims, he was within the territorial waters of and, consequently, in Peru. Alternatively, petitioner argues that should we hold against him as to the limits of the territorial waters of Peru, the facts and circumstances surrounding petitioner’s presence in the waters within 200 miles of Peru were such as to render him present in Peru.

Petitioner’s argument that because he was fishing in the waters within 200 miles of Peru over which that nation claimed sovereignty, he was present in the territory of Peruvian sovereignty, cannot prevail. It is stipulated by the parties “[t]hat the Executive Department of the Government of the United States does not recognize the claim of Peru to sovereignty over the seas to a minimum of 200 miles from its coastlines, but recognizes the sovereignty of Peru over its waters to a distance of three miles from its coastlines.” Further, we take judicial notice3 of the facts that the executive branch in its conduct of foreign affairs has traditionally denied asserted extensions by foreign countries of territorial waters beyond 3 miles,4 and that the executive branch protested the extension claimed by Peru.5 Congress, also, denied such claims in enacting a bill, 22 U.S.C. sections 1971-1976, for the protection of American-flag vessels seized by foreign countries.6

These facts preclude us from finding that petitioner was within the territorial waters of Peru when he was fishing in waters within 200 miles of the Peruvian coastline but not within 8 miles of the Peruvian coastline. The governing principle of law has an early judicial origin and is rooted in the basic concept of the division of powers upon which the Constitution of the United States is founded. The determination of the boundaries of nations is a matter of foreign affairs which is the function of the political departments of government, not the judicial. Foster v. Neilson, 2. Pet. 253, 307 (1829). Courts may not grant that recognition of an alleged territorial extension of sovereignty by a foreign country which the executive branch of government withholds. Williams v. Suffolk Insurance Co., 13 Pet. 415, 420 (1839). Petitioner was not physically present within the territorial limits of Peru, when fishing in waters beyond 3 miles from the Peruvian coastline. Petitioner’s main contention in this respect is not sustained.

Turning to petitioner’s alternative argument that the facts and circumstances surrounding his presence in waters within 200 miles of the Peruvian coastline justify a finding that he was constructively present in Peru, despite our conclusion that Peruvian territorial waters extend only 3 miles from that nation’s coastline, we find that petitioner cannot prevail on this ground. The substance of petitioner’s contention is that because his operations were based in Peru, and were at all times subject to extensive de facto, if not de jure, regulation by the Peruvian Government so long as he fished within 200 miles of Peru, he was constructively present within the territorial limits of Peru although physically outside those limits. In construing an earlier provision7 for the exclusion of earnings abroad from gross income, it was concluded that the physical presence of the taxpayer was the factor determinative of his geographical location. Hoofnel v. Commissioner, 166 F. 2d 504 (C.A. 9), affirming 7 T.C. 1136, certiorari denied 334 U.S. 833. In its ordinary acceptation, the word “present” connotes physical location. Cf. Webster’s New International Dictionary (2d ed. rev. 1950). Only by the operation of some amiable legal fiction can one who is physically 197 miles outside a country be present in that country. We do not find that Congress intended that the metaphysical concept of constructive presence should prevail in such a situation.

We hold, therefore, that petitioner has failed to prove that he was present in Peru during 1953 and 1954 for 510 days during 18 consecutive months within the intendment of section 911(a) (2).

The second question arising herein is whether petitioner was a bona fide resident of Peru for an uninterrupted period which includes all of 1954 within the provisions of section 911(a) (1) 8 of the 1954 Code.9 This affects only the taxable year 1954. The statute does not define the term, “bona fide resident.” In Regulations 118, section 39.116-1 (a) (2), the term is explicated by reference to sections 39.211-2 through 39.211-6, relating to the residence or nonresidence of aliens in the United States. An apt paraphrasing of section 39.211-2 (formerly section 29.211-2, Regulations 111), rendered in Weible v. United States, 244 F. 2d 158 (C.A. 9), as it applies in determining the residence or nonresidence of citizens of the United States in foreign countries, is set forth marginally.10 Within the intent of section 911(a) (1), a taxpayer need not be a domiciliary of a foreign country or countries to qualify as a resident thereof. Weible v. United States, supra. Conversely, mere physical presence in a foreign country for the specified period of time does not qualify a taxpayer as a resident of a foreign country within the ambit of section 911(a) (1). Downes v. Commissioner, 166 F. 2d 504 (C.A. 9), affirming 7 T.C. 1053. If the latter were not so, the enactment would have been an empty deed and the words of the report by the Senate Finance Committee11 meaningless phrases.

The petitioner has established that he was engaged in fishing operations conducted from a base in Paita, Peru, from June 7, 1953, until January 1957. These operations were conducted under permits issued by the Peruvian Government, in accordance with Peruvian regulations, subject to Peruvian supervision. As required by that country, 80 per cent of the crew of the ship petitioner captained was composed of Peruvian citizens. Petitioner was required by the Peruvian Government to surrender his ship’s papers and his passport, and to conduct operations and travel under Peruvian papers. Pie maintained a room in a hotel in Paita in which he kept his personal effects and in which he stayed when his presence was not required on board the vessel. Petitioner’s wife and daughter, whose residence was in San Diego, California, visited with him for a period of 70 days during 1954, of which they spent 24 days on board the vessel with petitioner and the remainder in the hotel in which petitioner maintained a room. Undoubtedly, petitioner’s wife and daughter continued to reside in San Diego throughout the years 1953 and 1954.

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Souza v. Commissioner
33 T.C. 817 (U.S. Tax Court, 1960)

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Bluebook (online)
33 T.C. 817, 1960 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 211, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/souza-v-commissioner-tax-1960.