United States Trust Co. v. Internal Revenue Service

803 F.2d 1363
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedNovember 7, 1986
DocketNo. 85-4947
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 803 F.2d 1363 (United States Trust Co. v. Internal Revenue Service) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States Trust Co. v. Internal Revenue Service, 803 F.2d 1363 (5th Cir. 1986).

Opinion

ROGER MADDEN HILL, Circuit Judge:

In this appeal we are asked to determine whether an estate taxpayer which has been allowed a deduction from its federal estate tax return for the amount of a bequest made to a charitable organization is also entitled to a deduction for the amount [1364]*1364of the bequest from its income tax return during the taxable year that the bequest was made. The United States Trust Company and the Estate of Alexander F. Chisholm (collectively, taxpayer), brought an action against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seeking a refund of federal income taxes paid by the taxpayer. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court denied the IRS’ motion and entered judgment for the taxpayer. United States Trust Co. v. Internal Revenue Service, 617 F.Supp. 575 (S.D.Miss.1985). Based upon our interpretation of the relevant tax statutes and treasury regulation, we reverse and remand for entry of judgment for the IRS.

I.

A.

The facts in -this case are not in dispute. Alexander F. Chisholm (Chisholm), a resident of Mississippi, died on March 12, 1974, leaving a valid will dated May 17, 1967. Chisholm’s will was admitted to probate in the Chancery Court of the Second Judicial District of Jones County, Mississippi. In article three of his will, Chisholm made a specific bequest to the Chisholm Foundation (Foundation), a New York-based charity organization.1 The bequest provided:

I give to the Chisholm Foundation, a New York membership corporation, a sum equal to ten percent (10%) of the value of my gross testamentary estate as finally determined in the Federal estate tax proceeding relating to my Estate, provided that such bequest is deductible from my gross Estate in determining my taxable Estate for Federal Estate tax purposes.

Ten percent of Chisholm’s gross testamentary estate was later calculated to be $2,473,719.

From Chisholm’s death in March to December 31, 1974, no part of the specific bequest to the Foundation was paid. During 1975 $1,505,000 in cash and $512,635 in stock was distributed to the Foundation in partial satisfaction of the specific bequest. The cash payments were made in twelve monthly payments from a bank account containing monies derived from the original corpus of Chisholm’s estate and the income that had accrued in 1974 and 1975.2 The remaining balance of the bequest to the Foundation was paid in 1976.

On its 1976 federal estate tax return, the taxpayer claimed an estate tax deduction, as allowed by section 2055(a)(2)3 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (the Code),4 for the entire $2,473,719 bequest which had been distributed to the Foundation during 1975 and 1976. The deduction was allowed by the IRS for the full amount of the distributions.

In 1976 the taxpayer also filed an income tax return for the year 1975. On this return the taxpayer claimed an income tax deduction for a part of the cash distributions made to the Foundation. Of the $1,505,000 in cash distributed to the Foundation in 1975, the taxpayer deducted [1365]*1365$1,240,467 from its gross income as a deduction for distributions to a beneficiary under section 661(a)(2).5 These distributions could not qualify for a deduction as distributions to a charitable organization under section 642(c) because Chisholm’s will did not direct that the distributions come from gross income. After auditing the 1975 income tax return, the IRS disallowed the deduction. Following unsuccessful protests by the taxpayer, the IRS issued a delinquency notice for taxes and interest due. The taxpayer paid the delinquency assessment under protest. In 1982 the taxpayer filed an administrative claim requesting a full refund; in 1988 the IRS denied the claim for a refund. Thereafter, the taxpayer filed suit seeking a refund of the income tax assessment and interest.

B.

The case came before the district court on cross-motions for summary judgment. The court entered judgment for the taxpayer because “the plain language of the statute justifies the deduction.” The court recognized that section 661 authorized deductions for “any amounts properly paid or credited” and then concluded that the distributions to the Foundation in 1975 were clearly amounts properly paid. 617 F.Supp. at 582. While agreeing that the taxpayer could not deduct the distributions under section 642(c), the district court went on to hold that nothing in section 663, which excludes 642(c) deductions from section 661’s framework, prohibited the taxpayer’s deduction in this case. In addressing the treasury regulation upon which the IRS relied in denying the deduction, the court concluded that the regulation was invalid. The court gave the regulation no deference since it was promulgated under the general authority provision of section 7805. Id. at 581.

The district court also refused to follow other decisions which had upheld the validity of the relevant treasury regulation. The court believed that these cases had been decided incorrectly in light of the language of sections 661 and 663. Id. at 582. The court concluded that the statutes simply did not prohibit the taxpayer’s claimed income tax deduction, that the treasury regulation which did was invalid, and, therefore, the taxpayer was entitled to a refund.

The IRS filed a timely motion to alter or amend the judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(e). The district court denied the motion, and the IRS perfected a timely appeal to this court. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

II.

The issue as stated before is: May the taxpayer claim an income tax deduction for distributions of present income to a charitable beneficiary under section 661(a)(2) when the distributions did not otherwise qualify as a section 642(c) deduction and the taxpayer had already claimed and received a federal estate tax deduction for the same distributions? In answering this question we decide whether treasury regulation § 1.663(a)-2 is valid. We begin our discussion with a general overview of the relevant tax statutes and treasury regulation involved and then proceed to a resolution of the above issue.

The statutory framework for federal income taxation of decedents’ estates and their beneficiaries is set forth in Subchapter J of the Code. 26 U.S.C. § 641 et seq. Subchapter J contains a system of rules which determine the proper amounts of estate income subject to tax and who should bear the burden of that tax. In this system, Congress has adopted a “conduit principle” of taxing estates in which an [1366]*1366estate is treated as an independent taxable entity and is taxed on accumulated income which is not distributed, either actually or presumptively, to its beneficiaries. In contrast, if the income is distributed to a beneficiary, or is presumed to be distributed, the income is not taxed against the estate but against the beneficiary. This result is accomplished by permitting the estate a deduction for the amount distributed and by requiring the beneficiary to include the distribution in his gross income.

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Bluebook (online)
803 F.2d 1363, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-trust-co-v-internal-revenue-service-ca5-1986.