Tamko Asphalt Products, Inc. v. Commissioner

71 T.C. 824, 1979 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 173, 1 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 2016
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedFebruary 15, 1979
DocketDocket No. 3887-78R
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 71 T.C. 824 (Tamko Asphalt Products, Inc. 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
Tamko Asphalt Products, Inc. v. Commissioner, 71 T.C. 824, 1979 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 173, 1 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 2016 (tax 1979).

Opinion

OPINION

Forrester, Judge:

This is an action for declaratory judgment pursuant to section 7476(a).1

Petitioner Tamko Asphalt Products, Inc. of Kansas, formerly Royal Brand Roofing, Inc., filed Form 5301, an Application for Determination for Defined Contribution Plan, on July 30,1976, with the District Director, Oklahoma City, Okla. Petitioner requested that an administrative determination be made of the qualified status of its profit-sharing plan under the provisions of section 401(a) and the exempt status of its related trust under section 501(a).

On January 27, 1978, respondent issued a Final Adverse Determination Letter stating that the profit-sharing plan of petitioner did not satisfy the vesting requirements resulting from the application of section 401(a)(4) because there has been, or there is reason to believe there will be, an accrual of benefits or forfeitures tending to discriminate in favor of employees who are officers, shareholders, or highly compensated.

Following this final adverse determination, petitioner filed its petition for declaratory judgment with this Court on April 13, 1978. Petitioner also filed, on July 3,1978, a motion to set case for trial. In response, on August 8, 1978, respondent filed a motion for order to show cause why the case should not be submitted on the administrative record. On August 30, 1978, after a hearing on the motions, petitioner’s motion was denied.

The issues presented for our decision are as follows:

(1) Whether petitioner’s profit-sharing plan discriminates, or there is reason to believe it will discriminate, in the accrual of benefits or forfeitures, in favor of employees who are officers, shareholders, or highly compensated in violation of section 401(a)(4) and section 411(d)(1)(B); and

(2) Whether this Court erred in refusing to grant petitioner a trial in this case.

This case was submitted for decision on the stipulated administrative record under Rule 122, Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure. The administrative record is incorporated herein by reference. Any evidentiary facts or representations contained therein are assumed to be true for the purposes of this proceeding. The following is disclosed from the administrative record.

Petitioner Tamko Asphalt Products, Inc. of Kansas, formerly Royal Brand Roofing, Inc., was incorporated under the laws of the State of Kansas on May 17,1962, and has its principal place of business at Phillipsburg, Kans. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Tamko Asphalt Products, Inc. of Missouri. The latter corporation had a qualified plan for its employees.

On November 29, 1975, petitioner adopted a profit-sharing plan and profit-sharing trust agreement to be effective May 1, 1975. Said plan provided, in relevant part:

ARTICLE II
Eligibility and Beneficiaries
2.1Each employee who has completed one (1) year of service with the employer shall become a participant not later than the earlier of:
(a) The first day of the first plan year beginning after the date on which the employee has completed a year of service.
(b) The date six (6) months after the date on which the employee completed a year of service.
A participant who has at least a one (1) year break in service with the employer and who is re-employed by the employer shall not be eligible to participate until such employee has at least one (1) year of service following reemployment.
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ARTICLE IV
Allocation of Employer’s Contributions
4.1 The employer’s contributions for any taxable year shall be allocated among the participants as follows: Each participant shall be allocated one (1) point for each full One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) of the participant’s annual compensation earned during the plan year ending after the taxable year for which the contribution is made and two (2) points for each year of service.
4.2 The employer’s contribution shall be allocated to each participant in the ratio that the points allocated to each participant bears to the total points allocated to all participants.
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ARTICLE V
Vesting of Interests
5.1 Each participant shall have a vested interest in his or her account based upon years of service as follows:
Years of service Nonforfeitable percentage
5 25%
6 30%
7 35%
Years of service Nonforfeitable percentage
8 40%
9 45%
10 50%
60% t — 1 r — <
70% rH
80% CO
14 90%
15 or more 100%
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ARTICLE VI
Benefits
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6.5* * * that portion of a participant’s account that is forfeited because not fully vested shall be allocated to the remaining participants in the ratio that the points allocated to each participant at the time of such forfeiture bears to the total points allocated to all participants at the time of such forfeiture.

In order to qualify this plan under the provisions of section 401(a), and exempt from tax its concomitant trust under section 501(a), petitioner sought a ruling from respondent on these matters. To that end, petitioner submitted Form 5302, Employee Census, for both the parent corporation and petitioner, indicating therein the 25 highest paid participating employees and their status as officers or shareholders for taxable year ending December 31,1975. Petitioner also tendered respondent a list of its employees for each of the years 1972 through 1975, depicting the respective employee’s dates of hiring and termination, number of years of service, and rate of pay.

The employee census reports and employee list formed, in part, a basis for respondent’s ruling. An analysis of the employee census reports discloses that the following employees were among the highest paid participants and were either officers or shareholders of petitioner or the parent corporation:

Employee Officer or shareholder Compensation Years of service Vested
Humphreys, J. P . X $90,000 19 X

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Tamko Asphalt Products, Inc. v. Commissioner
71 T.C. 824 (U.S. Tax Court, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
71 T.C. 824, 1979 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 173, 1 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 2016, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tamko-asphalt-products-inc-v-commissioner-tax-1979.