Travis v. Commissioner

1980 T.C. Memo. 251, 40 T.C.M. 658, 1980 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 335
United States Tax Court·Decided July 15, 1980·No. Docket No. 2677-78.·Unpublished

Opinion

DONALD R. TRAVIS and LENDA L. TRAVIS, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
Travis v. Commissioner
Docket No. 2677-78.
United States Tax Court
T.C. Memo 1980-251; 1980 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 335; 40 T.C.M. (CCH) 658; T.C.M. (RIA) 80251;
July 15, 1980, Filed
Donald R. Travis, pro se.
Barry Bledsoe, for the respondent.

SCOTT

MEMORANDUM FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION

SCOTT, Judge: Respondent determined deficiencies in petitioners' income taxes for calendar years 1971, 1972, and 1973 in the amounts of $4,030.71, $119.56, and $6,478.74, respectively.

Some of the issues raised by the pleadings have been disposed of by agreement of the parties leaving for decision (1) whether petitioners are entitled in 1971 to a section 38, I.R.C. 1954, 1 investment credit on construction equipment transferred in that year to a partnership in which petitioner-husband had a 50 percent interest; and (2) whether a portion of the $36,400 received by petitioners in 1973 from CRD Enterprises, Inc., is taxable to them as dividend income.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts*338 have been stipulated and are found accordingly.

Donald R. Travis (petitioner) and Lenda L. Travis, husband and wife, who resided in Jackson, Mississippi, at the time of filing their petition in this case, filed joint Federal income tax returns for calendar years 1971, 1972, and 1973 with the Internal Revenue Service Center, Chamblee, Georgia.

Throughout 1971, 1972, and 1973 petitioner was employed by Char-Mac Enterprises, Inc. (Char-Mac), a construction business, and was responsible for supervising the coordination of construction jobs. From 1971 until 1973 petitioner owned approximately 32 percent of the outstanding shares of Char-Mac stock. In 1973 petitioner sold his Char-Mac stock to Mr. Charles Duran, the principal shareholder.

Because of the existence of a ceiling on the availability of loan money to Char-Mac for the purchase of construction equipment, Mr. Duran formed two corporations, C & D Leasing, Inc. (C & D) and Jackson Equipment Rental, Inc. (Jackson Equipment) to acquire construction equipment needed for the operations of Char-Mac and to lease the equipment to Char-Mac.

An accountant advised Mr. Duran and petitioner to form a partnership to hold title to*339 the equipment leased by Char-Mac in order to obtain an investment credit which he told them was unavailable to C & D and Jackson Equipment. Following the accountant's suggestion, Mr. Duran and petitioner entered into an oral agreement prior to January 1, 1971, to become equal partnerts in D & T Investments (D & T).

On January 1, 1971, Jackson Equipment and D & T entered into the following agreement:

D. & T. INVESTMENTS does hereby agree to assume all lease payments of leases entered into by JACKSON EQUIPMENT RENTAL, INC., as of this date. D. & T. INVESTMENTS will be responsible for all Clauses and Limitations on said leases. D. & T. INVESTMENTS will reimburse JACKSON EQUIPMENT RENTAL for all lease payments made by them in D. & T. INVESTMENTS' behalf.

On the same date, Jackson Equipment agreed "to pay D & T INVESTMENTS 85% of its gross rental income as rent on the equipment being rented from D & T INVESTMENTS. JACKSON EQUIPMENT RENTAL, INC. is hereby authorized to use or rent all equipment rented from D & T INVESTMENTS after this date." On September 26, 1971, D & T and C & D entered into an agreement identical to the January 1, 1971, agreement between Jackson Equipment and*340D & T, which states in full:

D & T INVESTMENTS does hereby agree to assume all lease payments of leases entered into by C & D LEASING COMPANY, INC., as of this date. D & T INVESTMENTS will be responsible for all clauses and limitations on said leases. D & T INVESTMENTS will reimburse C & D LEASING COMPANY, INC., for all lease payments made by them in D & T INVESTMENTS' behalf.

None of the above agreements referred to specific leases entered into by C & D or Jackson Equipment, and none listed particular rental equipment covered thereby.

Between May 10, 1971, and December 30, 1971, D & T entered into 16 written agreements with Jackson Equipment and 2 written agreements with C & D. Each of these agreements was identical except for the equipment listed therein. Each agreement provided in its entirety, except for the list of equipment, as follows:

For and in consideration of Ten Dollars, cash in hand, paid me this day in full by D & T INVESTMENTS, I do hereby bargain and sell to him the following personal property:

* * * [list of equipment]

D & T INVESTMENTS agrees to assume all loans, liens and encumbrances against said property and agrees to reimburse * * * [name of*341 transferor] for all installment payments that they will make. D & T INVESTMENTS further agrees to reimburse * * * [name of transferor] for all taxes, tires, and repair charges.

The equipment listed in the 18 agreements was in total the following:

DateTransferorEquipment
5/10/71Jackson Equipment Rental1971 Ford Pick-up
1971 Ford Pick-up
5/30/71Jackson Equipment RentalD-5 Cat. Tractor
D-4 Cat.

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Travis v. Commissioner, 1980 T.C. Memo. 251, 40 T.C.M. 658, 1980 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 335 (tax 1980).

1980 T.C. Memo. 251 (Travis v. Commissioner) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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