Van Products, Inc. v. Commissioner

40 T.C. 1018, 1963 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 48
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedSeptember 24, 1963
DocketDocket No. 3235-62
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 40 T.C. 1018 (Van 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
Van Products, Inc. v. Commissioner, 40 T.C. 1018, 1963 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 48 (tax 1963).

Opinion

OPINION

Ratjm, Judge:

The Commissioner determined deficiencies in petitioner’s income tax for its taxable years ending March 31, 1959 and 1960, in the amounts of $2,304.29 and $2,496, respectively. The deficiencies were based upon the disallowance of claimed deductions in the amount of $4,800 for each of those years in respect of contributions to a profit-sharing trust. The facts have been stipulated.

Petitioner, an Ohio corporation organized in 1957, filed its returns for the years in controversy with the district director at Cincinnati.

On March 29, 1958, petitioner entered into a trust agreement with two individual trustees, hereinafter referred to collectively as the Trustee, establishing the “Van Products Profit-Sharing Trust,” which provided in part as follows:

3. Purpose of Trust. This Trust is created for the sole purpose of enabling salaried employees of the Company to share in the profits of the Company’s business. In no event shall any part of the principal or income of this Trust be paid to or revested in the Company, or be used for any purpose whatsoever other than the exclusive benefit of its salaried employees, their beneficiaries, and their families.
*******
10. Powers and Duties of Trustee. The Trustee, without regard to any legal restrictions, otherwise applicable to Trustees by the law of Ohio, or otherwise, shall have and may exercise the following powers:
a. The Trustee shall, with any cash at any time held by them, invest and reinvest the Fund in any securities or other property, including bonds, preferred or common stocks, whether said bonds or stock are issued by the Company or others, or first mortgages on real property, whether owned by the Company or others, and to retain such securities or other property in trust, subject, however, to the following limitations:
(1) Not less than twenty-five per cent (25%) of the cash received by the Trustee shall be invested by deposit in an insured savings and loan association.
(2) Not more than twenty-five per cent (25%) of the Funds may be invested in common stocks, whether said stocks are issued by the Company or others.

Petitioner’s initial contribution to the Trust was $500.1 Thereafter, on June 13, 1958, it contributed $2,500 to the Trust for the taxable period ended March 31, 1958, but on the same day, June 13, 1958, it borrowed $2,500 from the Trust, thereby reducing its corpus to $500. In return for the loan petitioner gave the Trustee its promissory note in the face amount of $2,500 payable in 1 year with interest at the rate of 5 percent. The loan was not secured or accompanied by mortgages or liens on property, accommodation endorsements of those financially capable of meeting the indebtedness, stocks or securities, or any other-security in addition to and supporting the promissory note.

On August 7, 1958, the district director of internal revenue at Cincinnati ruled that the Trust was a qualified trust under section 401(a) of the 1954 Code and was exempt from income taxation under section 501(a) .2 That ruling, contained in a letter of August 7, 1958, to petitioner, read in part as follows:

The plan, as evidenced by the trust indenture and other relevant information submitted with the request for a determination, has been considered and this office is of the opinion that the plan meets the requirements of Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, and that the trust established thereunder is entitled to exemption under the provisions of Section 501(a). Attention, however, is invited to Section 1.401-l(b) (3) of the Income Tax Regulations under the 1954 Code which states in part: “The law is concerned not only with the form of a plan but also with its effects in operation.”
The trust, being exempt under Section 501(a) of the Code, is subject to the provisions of Section 502 (relating to feeder organizations), Section 503 (relating to prohibited transactions), and Section 511 to 515, inclusive, (relating to tax on unrelated business income). It is also required to file an annual return (Form 990-P) as prescribed by Section 6033 of the Code. This office should be notified in writing jn the event of amendment or termination of the plan or trust.

The district director also notified the Trustee on the same day as to the status of the Trust under sections 401(a) and 501(a) ; he similarly warned the Trustee, inter alia, of the provisions of section 503 relating to prohibited transactions, and called attention to the requirement for filing an annual return (Form 990-P).

On May 29, 1959, petitioner repaid the $2,500 loan with interest. Also on May 29, 1959, petitioner contributed $4,800 to the Trust for the year ending March 31, 1959; however, on June 21, 1959, it borrowed $4,800 from the Trust, thus reducing the trust corpus from approximately $7,800 to approximately $3,000. In return for the loan petitioner gave its unsecured promissory note in the face amount of $4,800 payable in 1 year and bearing interest at the rate of 5 percent. On June 10,1960, petitioner repaid the $4,800 loan and also contributed $4,800 to the Trust for the year ending March 31, 1960. On June 13,1960, petitioner paid the interest on the foregoing $4,800 loan.

The balance sheets of petitioner for the years ending March 31, 1958, March 31, 1959, and March 31, 1960, reflected the following:

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Petitioner reported taxable income in its returns for the years ending March 31, 1958-60, in the amounts of $7,156.10, $18,373.06, and $23,473.57, respectively. In the year ending March 31, 1961, it incurred a net operating loss in the amount of $24,068.19.

The Trust did not file for the calendar year 1958 the required Form 990-P (“Keturn of Employees’ Trust Exempt From Tax”). However, it did file Form 990-P for the calendar years 1959, 1960, and 1961, and answered the indicated parts of question 9 on page 1 of each such returns as follows:

9. After March 1,1954 did—
The creator of your trust * * *
• ••••• Yes No
(a) Borrow any part of your income or corpus? X
****••
(e) Sell any securities or other property to you? X
(f) Receive any funds of the trust in any transaction? X

The returns required that a detailed statement be added thereto if the answer to any part of question 9 should be “Yes.” No such statement was attached to any of the returns as would have been obligatory had the Trust correctly answered “Yes” to the foregoing parts of question 9.3

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Van Products, Inc. v. Commissioner
40 T.C. 1018 (U.S. Tax Court, 1963)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
40 T.C. 1018, 1963 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 48, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/van-products-inc-v-commissioner-tax-1963.