Standard Computing Scale Co. v. United States

52 F.2d 1018, 72 Ct. Cl. 619, 10 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 535, 5 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) 1483, 1931 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 272
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedOctober 20, 1931
DocketNo. J-661
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 52 F.2d 1018 (Standard Computing Scale Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Standard Computing Scale Co. v. United States, 52 F.2d 1018, 72 Ct. Cl. 619, 10 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 535, 5 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) 1483, 1931 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 272 (cc 1931).

Opinion

LITTLETON, Judge.

There is no dispute as to the facts in this ease. They show that the net income of the plaintiff for 1920, computed on the installment sales method of accounting by including in taxable income the profits realized in that year on installment sales made in prior years and in invested capital all unrealized gross profits at the beginning of the taxable year on installment sales made in prior years, results in a total tax liability of $33,167.28 and an overpayment of $60,530.60. They further show that the net income of the plaintiff, computed on the installment sales method of accounting by including in taxable income the profits realized on installment sales made in prior years, and excluding from invested capital. all unrealized gross profits at the beginning of the taxable year on installment sales made in prior years, results in a total tax liability of $52,231.23 and an overpayment of $41,466.65.

The plaintiff contends that under sections 212 (d) of the Revenue Act of 1926, 44 Stat. 9, 23, and 1208 of that act, 44 Stat. 9, 130 (26 USCA §§ 953(d), 953a), and article 42 of Regulations 69, it is entitled to have its tax liability for 1920 computed by the use of the installment sales method of accounting, and contends for the overpayment of $60,-530.60 above mentioned.

The defendant concedes that on the straight accrual basis of accounting plaintiff is entitled to include in invested capital as determined by the Commissioner an additional amount of $3,548.23, representing the depreciated,, cost of patents used in the business, and that, on that basis, it is entitled to a refund of $178.08 plus interest from December 16, 1921. The defendant further concedes that, if plaintiff is entitled to have its net income and tax liability for 1920 determined on the installment sales basis, it is entitled to a refund of $41,466.65. Counsel for the defendant contend, however, that, inasmuch as plaintiff filed a return for 1920 on the accrual basis, the provisions of section 705 of the Revenue Act of 1928, 45 Stat. 791, 881 (26 USCA § 2705), deny it the right to have its income and tax for 1920 computed on the installment sales basis.

The plain provisions of section 705 of the Revenue Act of 1928 and a consideration of its history and purpose, as disclosed by previous regulations, decisions, and committee reports,1 show that it did not affect any of the rights given to taxpayers by sections 212 (d) and 1208 of the Revenue Act of 1926, 26 USCA §§ 953 (d), 953a, and that the purpose and intent, as clearly expressed in the language used, was that section 705 should operate as a statute of repose with respect to all eases where a taxpayer had by an original return changed from the accrual basis of reporting income to the installment sales basis prior to 1925, [1021]*1021which was the date of the decision of the United States Board of Tax Appeals in B. B. Todd, Inc., 1 B. T. A. 762. Prior to 1925 the Regulations 45, 1920 edition, and rulings of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue had applied what is commonly known as the single tax rule, namely, that, where a taxpayer changed to the installment sales basis ho need not in the year of the change or any subsequent year report as income amounts collected in such years on account of installment sales made in prior years and included in the returns for such prior years as income on the accrual basis. ' After the enactment of the Revenue Act of 1926 and before the enactment of the Revenue Act of 1928, the United States Board of Tax Appeals had decided the case of Blum’s, Inc., 7 B. T. A. 737, in which it was held, as contended by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, that, where a taxpayer changed from the accrual basis to the installment sales basis, he must report as income in the year of the change and subsequent years collections made in such years on account of installment sales made in prior years. This decision applied what is commonly known as the double tax rule. Section 705, supra, as hereinafter pointed out, went no further than to prevent the reopening of cases prior to 1925 in which the taxpayer changed by an original return.

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue rejected plaintiff’s claim for refund in this case, not because it was not entitled to report its income on the installment basis under sections 212 (d) and 1208 of the Revenue Act of 1926, supra, and article 42 of Regulations 69, nor because section 705 of the Revenue Act of 1928 prohibited the change, but because a report of an internal revenue agent showed that the information submitted with the claim for refund failed to comply with the requirements of the Revenue Act of 1926 as to installment sales. The position which counsel for the defendant take in the brief filed in this case is that, if a taxpayer in any year prior to 1925 filed an original return on the accrual basis, he may not thereafter for any such prior year change to the installment sales basis. In the argument of the case, counsel for defendant conceded that, notwithstanding the plaintiff had filed its original return for 1920 on the accrual basis, it would be entitled to change to the installment sales basis, and have its income and tax liability for that year determined, adjusted, and computed on the installment sales basis if it had submitted with its claim for refund “an amended return”; and argued that, since the plaintiff did not file an amended return, it was not entitled to have its income and tax liability determined and computed on the installment sales basis on a claim for refund and the information, facts, and computation submitted in connection therewith.

We are of opinion that plaintiff is entitled to have its income and tax for 1920 determined and computed on the installment sales method of accounting, and that the contentions made by the defendant in this case are without merit.

The ground of plaintiff’s claim for refund and the basis of this suit is that it should be permitted to return its income for 1920 on the installment basis. The plaintiff has meticulously complied with the provisions of section 212 (d) of the Revenue Act of 1926, which were retroactive to December 31, 1915, with the provisions of Regulations 69 with reference to keeping its books of account, and with the provisions of law with reference to filing of claims for refund. The filing of an amended return is not compulsory but merely permissive. The statute nowhere requires that an amended return be filed. Article 42 of Regulations 69 permits an amended return, but does not require such return as a condition precedent to the right to have the tax computed on the installment basis. The method in which the books are kept and the facts and information contained therein with reference to sales on the installment plan control the right of the taxpayer who is regularly engaged in making sales of personal property on the installment plan to have its tax liability determined by the use of the installment sales method of accounting. The established practice has always been to make adjustment on claims for refund of the net income and the tax returned and paid from the cash to the accrual basis, from a calendar year to a fiscal year basis, and vice versa, without requiring amended returns, and we find no necessity for applying a different rule in cases of this kind where the taxpayer’s books of account contain adoquate information and were kept so that income could be accurately computed on the installment basis.

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52 F.2d 1018, 72 Ct. Cl. 619, 10 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 535, 5 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) 1483, 1931 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 272, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/standard-computing-scale-co-v-united-states-cc-1931.