Travis v. Commissioner

47 T.C. 502, 1967 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 146
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedFebruary 20, 1967
DocketDocket No. 108-64
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 47 T.C. 502 (Travis 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
Travis v. Commissioner, 47 T.C. 502, 1967 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 146 (tax 1967).

Opinion

FORRESTER, Judge:

Respondent determined a deficiency in the income tax of the petitioners in the amount of $244,247.51 for the taxable year ending December 31,1958.

Some of the issues have been settled by stipulation, leaving for our consideration the following questions:

Whether the subchapter S corporation of which the petitioner Doris Eaton Travis was the sole shareholder was required to include in income amounts which became due and payable during 1958 under contracts to give dancing lessons ;

Whether the corporation and/or Doris were required to include in income amounts credited to a reserve account with a finance company during 1958, and attributable to the sale of contracts to the finance company by the corporation and by Doris’ predecessor sole proprietorship ;

Whether, if the two previous questions are to any extent answered in the affirmative, the corporation and/or Doris is entitled to a deduction for a reasonable addition to a reserve for bad debts;

Whether the Commissioner erred in not reducing the petitioners’ income and that of the corporation by the amount of cash received by Doris as a sole proprietor and by the corporation which represented

(a) payment of contract installments that were due and payable to Doris’ predecessor sole proprietorship during preceding taxable years, and

(b) amounts collected from the finance company as the result of sales of contracts to it by Doris’ predecessor sole proprietorship during preceding taxable years; and

Whether the characterization of a deduction (as business or non-business) , which is admittedly allowable in 1958, for interest paid on prior Federal income tax deficiencies is properly before us for the year in issue.

BINDINGS OP FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated and are incorporated herein by this reference.

Paul H. Travis and Doris Eaton Travis, husband and wife, resided in Leonard, Mich. They filed a joint Federal income tax return for 1958 with the district director of internal revenue, Detroit, Mich. Paul PI. Travis is a party to this proceeding only because he signed the j oint return in issue, and Doris Eaton Travis is hereinafter referred to as the petitioner.

The Arthur Murray Studios of Michigan, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as the corporation), filed a United States small business corporation return of income for 1958 with the district director of internal revenue, Detroit, Mich. The corporation made a valid election under section 1372 of the Code1 not to be subject to the taxes imposed by chapter 1, subtitle A of the Code, and the petitioner, the sole stock-owner of the corporation, consented to this election.

In 1938 the petitioner and Charles R. Andrews formed Arthur Murray Dance Studios of Michigan, a partnership, which continued until 1918. Petitioner operated the business until January 31, 1958, as a sole proprietorship and under the same name. Petitioner caused the corporation to be formed in 1958 and transferred the assets of her sole proprietorship to it. She began doing business in corporate form on February 1,1958.

At the time of incorporation the petitioner transferred to the corporation several dance studios located in Detroit and Port Huron. In the next several months the corporation acquired four more studios in the cities of Flint, Wyandotte, Kalamazoo, and Muskegon, Mich. These four studios had previously been run by subfranchised operators.

The corporation and the sole proprietorship used two types of contracts in selling dance lessons to students. One type of contract was entitled “Enrollment Agreement and Contract” and is hereinafter called a student enrollment agreement. The other type was entitled “Budget Plan” and is hereinafter called a budget plan contract.

The student enrollment agreement contained space for such information as the name, address, and telephone number of the student. It also provided for the total number of hours of dance instruction to be taken, the tuition, the amount of the deposit, and the terms for the payment of the balance of the tuition. The student was free to take the lessons at any time within a year. The contract contained the following language:

It is agreed and understood that the Arthur Murray Studios will give me the course of dance instruction indicated above within one year following the date of this agreement and that my failure to take lessons as prescribed above shall not obligate the Arthur Murray Studios to give any lessons under the terms of this agreement after this period. My failure to take lessons during the period indicated above shall not relieve me of my obligations under this contract. No delay on your part in taking action under this contract shall be deemed a waiver of any of your rights. I acknowledge that instead of the usual rate of $7.50 for each half-hour lesson a reduced rate has been granted me because of the number of lessons contracted for hereunder, and, accordingly, it is agreed that this contract may not be cancelled by me and that under no circumstances will you be required to make any refund to me.

Near tbe bottom of tbe contract in bold face, appeared tbe words “Non-Cancellable Contract.”

Students frequently defaulted on these contracts, but Doris never sued them for tbe balance due, and the corporation followed the same policy. Frequently, Doris or the corporation would agree with a student to rewrite a contract, providing for a smaller payment and a lesser number of lessons. This was known as a “cut.”

Under the terms of the student enrollment agreements in force on December 31,1958, installment payments totaling $99,232.93 were due on or before that date.2 Of this amount $19,971.43 represents payments falling due before the contracts were acquired by the corporation.

The budget plan contract contained spaces for information such as the name and address of the student, the name and address of his employer, and his salary. The contract used the following language:

I agree to take * * * hours of dancing lessons from you during the next twelve months at a cost of $-- — . I hereby pay the sum of $-on account, and agree to pay to your ox’der the balance of $-in-equal monthly installments of $-at Educational Credit Bureau, Inc., 1111 Grand Avenue, Kansas City, Mo. The first such installment shall be paid on the-day of -- 195— and subsequent installments shall be paid on the same day of each succeeding month until said amount is paid in full.
* * * I agree that this contract may not be cancelled. My failure to take lessons during the period designated above shall not relieve me of my obligations under this contract. * * *

The contract also bore the inscription in bold face, “Non-Cancellabi*e Negotiable Conteact.” The following language appeared on the reverse side of the contract: “For value received the undersigned hereby assigns the within contract to Educational Credit Bureau, Inc.”

The corporation sold these budget plan contracts to a finance company, the Educational Credit Bureau, Inc.

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Travis v. Commissioner
47 T.C. 502 (U.S. Tax Court, 1967)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
47 T.C. 502, 1967 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 146, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/travis-v-commissioner-tax-1967.