Standard Office Building Corp. v. United States

640 F. Supp. 549, 59 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 326, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24314
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJune 11, 1986
DocketNo. 81 C 6158
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 640 F. Supp. 549 (Standard Office Building Corp. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Standard Office Building Corp. v. United States, 640 F. Supp. 549, 59 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 326, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24314 (N.D. Ill. 1986).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

GRADY, Chief Judge.

This tax refund case involves difficult questions pertaining to the interpretation of two sections of the tax code, 26 U.S.C. §§ 3231(a) and 6051(a) and (c). The case is before us on the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment as to the liability of the plaintiff taxpayer, Standard Office Corporation (“Standard”), for assessments made by the government against it pursuant to the Railroad Retirement Tax Act, 26 U.S.C. § 3201 et. seq. (“RRTA”). For the reasons given below, Standard’s motion is denied, and the government's motion is granted.

FACTS

The parties have stipulated to the facts of this case. Standard is an Illinois corporation. During the period 1972 through 1980 (the period upon which the disputed assessments are based), the 100 percent shareholder of Standard was Santa Fe Industries, Inc. (“Santa Fe”), a parent holding company. Santa Fe was also the 100 percent sole shareholder of The Atchison, [551]*551Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Co. (“Atchison”), which is the rail carrier within the meaning of 26 U.S.C. § 3231(g).

Standard was first incorporated in 1902. There were eleven original shareholders, including a nominee of Atchison, who owned 11.1 percent of the stock. Subsequently, Atchison gradually acquired a greater percentage of Standard’s stock, until, in 1955, Atchison became Standard’s sole shareholder. In 1970, Atchison distributed Standard’s stock to Santa Fe.

The only business in which Standard has ever engaged was the ownership, operation and leasing of a commercial office building at 224 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago. There were three tiers to Standard’s organizational structure: corporate officers and directors; the building manager and his secretary; and the building superintendent and union employees. The corporate officers and directors were all employed by either Santa Fe or Atchison; they were paid by Santa Fe or Atchison, and they devoted a relatively small amount of time to Standard. The building manager and his secretary were employed by Scribner & Co. (“Scribner”), an independent real estate management firm. Scribner managed the building in return for a percentage of the gross rental income collected from the building tenants. The building manager basically ran the building — obtained tenants, negotiated leases, collected rents and supervised building maintenance. Finally, a building superintendent and 64 union employees were employed by Standard to maintain the building. The building manager hired and fired these employees; Standard paid them.

During 1972 to 1980, the building was leased, on average, to about 75 different tenants. The largest tenant was Atchison. In 1904, it occupied 11 percent of the building; in 1952, it occupied 41 percent of the building, and since that time, its occupancy has fluctuated around 50 percent of the building. The rent it paid was basically commensurate with the space it occupied: its rent represented 47 percent of the rent income received by Standard from 1972 to 1980. Any decision to increase the rent charged to Atchison was made by Standard’s officers and directors.

DISCUSSION

Standard paid Federal Income Contributions Act (“FICA”) tax, and filed FICA tax returns (Form 941) for its employees from 1972 through 1980. The government contends that Standard should have been filing RRTA Form CT-1 returns and paying RRTA tax, which is higher than FICA tax.

Standard raises two arguments in support of its position that it need not pay the government's RRTA tax assessments: (1) it was not an “employer” within the meaning of 29 U.S.C. § 3231(a), and (2) the assessments were untimely.

“Employer” Under § 3231(a)

An employer must pay RRTA taxes if it fits into the definition given in § 3231(a). Under § 3231(a), the term employer means “any carrier” or “any company which is directly owned or controlled” by a carrier “or under common control therewith,” and which “operates any equipment or facility or performs any service (except trucking service, casual service, and the casual operation of equipment or facilities) in connection with the transportation of passengers or property by railroad, or the receipt, delivery, elevation, transfer in transit, refrigeration or icing, storage, or handling of property transported by railroad____”

The parties agree that Standard is not a carrier, but is under common control with one (Atchison). Therefore, the issue here is whether Standard’s activities in owning, leasing and maintaining the building in which Atchison rents space is a “service in connection with ... transportation.” Additionally, Standard argues that if it does provide such a service, the service meets § 3231(a)’s exception for casual service or casual operation.

There are three cases which affect our decision: Itel Corp. v. United Railroad Retirement Board, 710 F.2d 1243 (7th Cir. 1983); Southern Development Co. v. Railroad Retirement Board, 243 F.2d 351 (8th Cir.1957); and Despatch Shops v. Railroad [552]*552Retirement Board, 153 F.2d 644 (D.C.Cir. 1946). In Despatch, the taxpayer, a wholly-owned subsidiary of a rail carrier, operated a railroad freight car shop, and argued that it was not an employer under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, 45 U.S.C. § 351(a) (“RUIA”), and the Railroad Retirement Act, 45 U.S.C. § 231(a)(1) (“RRA”).1 The car shop built and repaired freight cars, and the vast bulk of work was done on behalf of its carrier:

It does not appear that Despatch was a competitor with other car builders in the usual sense of the word. While it did small amounts of work for others [carriers], no effort was made to solicit business or extend its operation to serve other lines.

Despatch, 153 F.2d at 694.

Based on these facts, the court concluded that “the primary function” of the subsidiary was to serve its carrier. The court then looked at the type of service the subsidiary provided and found that it was “inherent or vital to the sustained functioning of a railroad system.” Id. at 646. Based on these two conclusions, the court affirmed the Railroad Retirement Board’s ruling that the subsidiary was an employer under the Acts, because the opposite determination would allow railroads to avoid the Acts by setting up subsidiaries to provide “supporting” rail activities:

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640 F. Supp. 549, 59 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 326, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24314, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/standard-office-building-corp-v-united-states-ilnd-1986.