Tomburello v. Commissioner

86 T.C. No. 34, 86 T.C. 540, 1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 132
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedMarch 31, 1986
DocketDocket No. 30044-83
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 86 T.C. No. 34 (Tomburello 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
Tomburello v. Commissioner, 86 T.C. No. 34, 86 T.C. 540, 1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 132 (tax 1986).

Opinion

STERRETT, Chief Judge:

By notice of deficiency dated August 1, 1983, respondent determined a deficiency in petitioners’ Federal income tax for the taxable year ended December 31, 1980, in the amount of $3,515 and an addition to tax pursuant to section 6653(a)1 in the amount of $175.75.

The primary issue for decision is whether petitioners have unreported income for the 1980 taxable year based on the receipt of “tokes” during employment as a “21” card dealer. Also at issue is whether petitioners are liable for an addition to tax under section 6653(a) for negligence or intentional disregard of rules and regulations.2

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. The stipulated facts and exhibits are incorporated herein by this reference.

Petitioners Louis R. Tomburello and Annette C. Tomburello were husband and wife during the 1980 taxable year and resided in Reno, Nevada, at the time they filed their petition in this case. They filed their joint Federal income tax return for the 1980 taxable year with the Internal Revenue Service Center in Ogden, Utah. All references to petitioner in the singular refer to petitioner Louis R. Tomburello.

During the taxable year in issue, petitioner was employed as a “21” card dealer at the MGM-Grand-Reno Hotel and Casino (MGM) in Reno, Nevada. The parties have stipulated that in 1980 petitioner worked there for a total of 1,196.5 hours, specifically, 685.3 hours on the day shift (from approximately 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.) and 511.2 hours on the swing shift (from approximately 8 p.m. until 4 a.m.).

In the course of his employment, petitioner received “tokes” from players at the “21” game tables. “Tokes” are casino chips (house checks) that players either give to the card dealers directly or place along with their own bets as bets for the dealers. The tokes received by the “21” card dealers on each shift were pooled and divided up evenly among all of the dealers of that shift.

Petitioner did not maintain any records of the tokes he received. He did not report his receipt of tokes to his employer or on his 1980 Federal income tax return. Respondent served a summons on MGM for the production of payroll records with respect to petitioner’s employment.

In the statutory notice of deficiency, respondent determined a deficiency in petitioner’s Federal income tax and an addition to tax under section 6653(a) for the 1980 taxable year based on petitioner’s failure to report as income tokes received during employment.

OPINION

The primary issue for decision is whether petitioner has unreported income based upon his receipt of tokes during employment as a “21” card dealer. In the notice of deficiency, respondent determined a $3,515 deficiency in petitioner’s 1980 Federal income tax, plus a negligence addition to tax computed thereon of $175.75, for failure to report toke receipts of $13,742.3

At trial, respondent agreed to reduce the amount of the deficiency based on petitioner’s unreported toke receipts. The parties stipulated that during 1980 petitioner worked as a “21” card dealer for 685.3 hours during the day shift and for 511.2 hours during the swing shift, for a total of 1,196.5 hours. The parties then recomputed petitioner’s unreported toke receipts based upon hourly toke rates of $7.01 during the day shift and $7.87 during the swing shift, for a total of $8,827.09 in unreported toke receipts.

Petitioner does not contest that in 1980 he received tokes in the amount recomputed at trial. However, petitioner maintains that the tokes do not constitute taxable income, but rather are gifts from the gambling patrons that are nontaxable under section 102.4 Petitioner bears the burden of proof. Rule 142(a); Welch v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 111, 115 (1933).

It has been established that tokes do constitute income. Olk v. United States, 536 F.2d 876 (9th Cir. 1976); Catalano v. Commissioner, 81 T.C. 8, 13 (1983), affd. without published opinion sub nom. Knoll v. Commissioner, 735 F.2d 1370 (9th Cir. 1984). The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, to which this case would be appealable, has rejected the argument that tokes constitute nontaxable gifts. Olk v. United States, 536 F.2d at 879.

Petitioner purports to raise two additional arguments not addressed by the court in Oik. First, he argues that the tokes do not constitute income because there is no contractual relationship between himself and the gambling patrons. Petitioner contends that in Oik the court did not consider the issue of who provides the service to the casino patrons; that is, whether it is the casino management or the dealers. Petitioner’s attempt to distinguish the instant case from Oik on this basis must fail. The facts set forth in Oik at page 877, indicate that this issue was addressed, as the court stated that—

No obligation on the part of the patron exists to give [money] to a dealer and “dealers perform no service for patrons which a patron would normally find compensable.” Another finding is that there exists “no direct relation between services performed for management by a dealer and benefit or detriment to the patron.”

Contrary to petitioner’s argument, these findings did not deter the court in Oik from its conclusion that the tokes constitute income.

Petitioner’s second argument, even less persuasive, is that wages are not “capital gain” and therefore are not taxable as income. Clearly, wages do constitute income under section 61 and section 1.61-2(a)(l), Income Tax Regs. Moreover, this hardly presents a novel argument. Petitioner’s claim is frivolous and has been rejected previously by this Court. Rowlee v. Commissioner, 80 T.C. 1111, 1122 (1983).

Petitioner also raises two procedural arguments with respect to respondent’s determination of the deficiency. Respondent served a summons on MGM, petitioner’s employer, for the production of payroll records with respect to petitioner’s employment, in accordance with section 7602.5 Petitioner argues that his due process rights have been violated because he did not receive notice of this summons in accordance with section 7609(a).6 Therefore, petitioner argues that he has been denied the right to intervene with respect to enforcement of the summons under section 7609(b).

Section 7609 provides in relevant part as follows:

SEC. 7609. SPECIAL PROCEDURES FOR THIRD-PARTY SUMMONSES.

(a) Notice.—
(1) In GENERAL. If—
(A) any summons described in subsection (c) is served on any person who is a third-party recordkeeper, and

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Tomburello v. Commissioner
86 T.C. No. 34 (U.S. Tax Court, 1986)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
86 T.C. No. 34, 86 T.C. 540, 1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 132, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tomburello-v-commissioner-tax-1986.