Warner v. Commissioner

56 T.C. 1126, 1971 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 72
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedAugust 23, 1971
DocketDocket No. 1725-69
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 56 T.C. 1126 (Warner 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
Warner v. Commissioner, 56 T.C. 1126, 1971 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 72 (tax 1971).

Opinion

Irwin, Judge:

The Commissioner determined a deficiency in petitioners’ income tax for the taxable year 1965 in the amount of $80,780.33. We must first decide whether petitioners sold certain real property under threat or imminence of condemnation so as to satisfy section 1033 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.1 In the event we decide this issue in the negative, we must then determine whether respondent’s allocation of the sales proceeds was correct.

FINDING OF FACT

Edward Warner (hereinafter petitioner) and his wife, Elizabeth Warner, who resided in Tremont, Ind., at the time they filed the petition herein, filed 2 a joint Federal income tax return for the calendar year 1965 with the district director of internal revenue, Indianapolis, Ind.

As of the date of the trial herein, petitioner had been engaged in the real estate business for approximately 25 years. While he was licensed to sell real estate in Indiana, petitioner was at no time licensed to sell in Michigan.

Petitioners acquired the following tracts of land in Van Burén County, Mich., on the dates indicated:

Description of real estate Date of acquisition
Potts (150 acres)_ April 1960
Hedlund (4 acres)_ November 1961
Ward (7 acres)- September 1961

What originally drew petitioner’s attention to the Potts land was a large billboard for-sale sign located thereon. Petitioner did not remove the sign after purchasing the property. The previous owner, Potts, whose name appeared on the sign and who was still receiving inquiries concerning the property, requested petitioner to remove it. Instead, petitioner crossed out the former owner’s name and inserted his own name thereon.

Petitioner placed an advertisement offering to sell some of his land in Van Burén County in the Wall Street Journal sometime during the period 1962 to 1964.

In addition to the aforementioned tracts of land, petitioner had been interested prior to and during 1964 in acquiring the following properties which were located in the same vicinity: Chase (5 acres), Eldridge (13 acres), and Chase (12 acres).

As early as 1961 and again in 1963, the State of Michigan was considering and investigating the purchase of land near the city of Saugatuck for a State park. In January 1964, the Van Burén County road commission (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the commission) and the State legislature agreed to substitute a park in Van Burén County for the potential park at Saugatuck.

In February 1964, a meeting attended by, among others, various State senators and representatives as well as department and township officials were held in Lansing, Mich. At that meeting, the county road commission agreed to continue its efforts to acquire the Drake property located in Van Burén Coünty on Lake Michigan and situated near the real estate owned by petitioner. Furthermore, it indicated that it would be able to fund a purchase from the Drake estate in terms of $125,000. State representatives agreed that up to $100,000 in State funds would be made available to augment the Drake tract, which was regarded as the hard-core portion of the proposed park area.

On July 1,1964, the Michigan legislature provided an appropriation of only $10,000 for the purpose of taking options for the purchase of additional property for the proposed State park.

The proposed park as originally conceived would have extended from just north of the Drake property down through the Ward, Mas-terson, Peters, Chase, Hedlund, and Eldridge properties to a point just south of the Potts land. However, the park boundaries were changed thereby reducing the size of the park when the State dis1covered sometime in January 1965 that Consumers Power Company (hereinafter CPC), a public utility under the laws of Michigan, was also interested in acquiring some of the same land. Not having the necessary funds to finance acquisition, the State of Michigan could not compete effectively with CPC. However, Van Burén County did commence negotiations for the purchase of the Drake property sometime in February 1964. At no time during 1964 did anyone from the Department of Conservation take soil samples from the Drake property. The purchase was consummated sometime in January 1965 at a price below the fair market value thereof. The owners of the Drake property were wealthy individuals who were sincerely interested in park objectives and who desired to sell the Drake property to the county only if they could be assured that it would eventually became State owned as part of the park system.

As of the date of the trial, T. E. Tucker (hereinafter Tucker), who was the senior park land acquisition man during 1964, was the lands acquisition supervisor of the Michigan Department of Natural Ee-sources, formerly called the Department of Conservation. He had been employed by the State in various capacities all dealing with land acquisition for approximately 25 years.

After observing the for-sale sign located on the Potts tract owned by petitioner, Tucker contacted him in early February 1964 in his capacity as agent for the State of Michigan. Tucker identified himself as such to petitioner and explained to him Michigan’s interest in the planned park, its funding situation, and its interest in determining on an exploratory basis which properties were for sale in the area.

During the period February to November 1964, Tucker met with petitioner several times and also talked with him several times on the telephone in connection with the sale of his property. At one of their meetings, petitioner showed Tucker the advertisement he had placed in the Wall Street Journal to sell his land in Van Burén County for approximately $600,000. Tucker believed that petitioner overestimated the value of his land.

Tucker offered to purchase petitioner’s Ward property, which was the State’s prime interest, for $75,000 or $80,000. If funds were available, the State was also interested in the Potts and Pledlund properties as well as the two Chase tracts and the Eldridge land.

Petitioner, who owned some property in Indiana involved in condemnation, brought up the topic of condemnation during the course of his negotiations with Tucker. Tucker informed petitioner of the State’s extreme reluctance to exercise its power of condemnation and of its limited history of condemnation. Tucker also indicated to petitioner on several occasions that there was a limitation of the funds available for the proposed park. Moreover, petitioner was informed by Tucker that the funding difficulties and limitations on the State’s ability to proceed definitely precluded any possibility of condemnation.

On April 16,1964, the following article appeared in the News-Palladium, a newspaper published in Benton Harbor, Mich.:

NEW STATE PARK FOR AREA!
613 Aeres Of Lake Dunes In Van Burén
Winter And Summer Use Is Planned

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

Related

Johnson v. Commissioner
1998 T.C. Memo. 448 (U.S. Tax Court, 1998)
Hay v. Commissioner
1992 T.C. Memo. 409 (U.S. Tax Court, 1992)
Tecumseh Corrugated Box Co. v. Commissioner
94 T.C. No. 22 (U.S. Tax Court, 1990)
Southern Pacific Transp. Co. v. Commissioner
75 T.C. 497 (U.S. Tax Court, 1980)
Forest City Chevrolet v. Commissioner
1977 T.C. Memo. 187 (U.S. Tax Court, 1977)
Rainier Cos. v. Commissioner
61 T.C. No. 8 (U.S. Tax Court, 1973)
Parks v. Commissioner
1973 T.C. Memo. 38 (U.S. Tax Court, 1973)
Warner v. Commissioner
56 T.C. 1126 (U.S. Tax Court, 1971)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
56 T.C. 1126, 1971 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 72, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/warner-v-commissioner-tax-1971.