Vesco v. Commissioner

1979 T.C. Memo. 369, 39 T.C.M. 101, 1979 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 154
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedSeptember 11, 1979
DocketDocket No. 8872-73.
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 1979 T.C. Memo. 369 (Vesco 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
Vesco v. Commissioner, 1979 T.C. Memo. 369, 39 T.C.M. 101, 1979 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 154 (tax 1979).

Opinion

ROBERT L. VESCO, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
Vesco v. Commissioner
Docket No. 8872-73.
United States Tax Court
T.C. Memo 1979-369; 1979 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 154; 39 T.C.M. (CCH) 101; T.C.M. (RIA) 79369;
September 11, 1979, Filed; As Amended October 17, 1979
Myles J. Sachs,Robert D. Foglia, and Joseph A. Foglia, for the petitioner.
Agatha L. Vorsanger,William J. Salica,Bernard S. Mark and Joseph T. Chalhoub, for the respondent.

SCOTT

MEMORANDUM FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION

SCOTT, Judge: Respondent determined a deficiency in petitioner's Federal income tax for the calendar year 1971*155 in the amount of $775,310 and an addition to tax under section 6653(a), I.R.C. 1954, 1 in the amount of $38,765.50.

The issues for decision are:

(1) Whether respondent's determination of deficiency in this case is arbitrary and capricious;

(2) whether petitioner, who since February 1973 has continuously resided outside the United States, should be denied a redetermination of his tax liability for 1971 by this Court because he was indicted in June and July 1973 in three separate indictments by a Federal Grand Jury on felony charges and at a later time indicted for willfully disobeying and resisting a subpoena, all in the Southern District of New York;

(3) whether petitioner received income in the amount of $830,729.69 or any part thereof in 1971 by reason of his personal use for himself and for his family of a 707 aircraft owned by a corporate subsidiary of the corporation of which he was an officer;

(4) whether petitioner received income of $170,621.06 or any part thereof from payments and advances made to him or for his benefit during 1971*156 by the corporation of which he was an officer;

(5) whether petitioner received income of $28,170.58 or any part thereof during 1971 represented by unexplained deposits into his bank account at the American National Bank and Trust Company, Morristown, New Jersey;

(6) whether petitioner is entitled to a claimed long-term capital loss in 1971 and capital loss carryover from 1970 to 1971 as a result of loans to or investments in certain foreign entities; and

(7) whether petitioner is liable for the addition to tax under section 6653(a) for negligence or intentional disregard of rules and regulations.

FINDINGS OF FACT

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

Petitioner, at the time of the filing of his petition in this case, resided in Nassau, N.P., Bahamas and San Jose, Costa Rica. Robert L. Vesco (petitioner) and his wife, Patricia J. Vesco, filed a joint Federal income tax return for the calendar year 1971 with the District Director of Internal Revenue, Newark, New Jersey. At the time of filing this return, petitioner and Mrs. Vesco resided on Old Denville Road, Boonton, New Jersey.

During the entire calendar year 1971, petitioner was employed*157 by International Controls Corporation (ICC) and served as the chairman of its board of directors and chief executive officer. ICC is a Florida corporation which had its principal place of business during 1971 in Fairfield, New Jersey. It was engaged in various diversified business enterprises and had plants and offices throughout the United States. Its common stock was listed on the American Stock Exchange. During 1971 the board of directors of ICC consisted of the following:

Frank G. Beatty, Richard E. Clay, Stanley Hiller, Jr., Ralph P. Dodd, Malcolm E. McAlpin, Laurence B. Richardson, Jr., Wilbert J. Snipes, Merle Thorpe, Jr., Robert L. Vesco

On August 31, 1970, ICC Investments, Ltd. (IIL), a subsidiary of ICC, entered into an agreement to purchase $5 million of promissory notes and stock warrants of Investors Overseas Services, Ltd. (IOS), a Canadian corporation. IOS was effectively a holding company which either directly or through subsidiaries had its principal offices in or near Geneva, Switzerland and had other offices or operations scattered throughout the world. Under the terms of the agreement dated August 31, 1970, with respect to financing entered into between*158 ICC and IOS, ICC was entitled to designate two members of the board of directors, the finance committee and the executive committee of IOS. During the year 1971, petitioner and Milton S. Meissner were the directors and members of the finance and executive committees of IOS designated by ICC. During the year 1971, ICC, through a wholly owned foreign subsidiary, IIL, had an investment in IOS which amounted to 38 percent of the voting stock of IOS and constituted effective control of IOS.

Around February of 1971 petitioner became chairman of the board of IOS. In late 1970 and early 1971, IOS defaulted with respect to certain of the provisions of the agreement dated August 31, 1970, and because of these defaults ICC effectively obtained the authority to make appointments of officers in the subsidiary companies of IOS.

The various subsidiaries of IOS had interests in the fields of real estate, mutual funds, banking institutions and insurance companies. One subsidiary of IOS, through management contracts, managed numerous foreign mutual funds with assets of over $200 million. Another IOS subsidiary sold to the public nonvoting shares in the mutual funds that were managed by the*159 other IOS subsidiaries. Other subsidiaries controlled various foreign insurance companies, banks and real estate companies.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Terpil v. Commissioner
1985 T.C. Memo. 350 (U.S. Tax Court, 1985)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1979 T.C. Memo. 369, 39 T.C.M. 101, 1979 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 154, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vesco-v-commissioner-tax-1979.