Weiner v. Commissioner

64 T.C. 294, 1975 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 141
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedMay 27, 1975
DocketDocket No. 907-73
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 64 T.C. 294 (Weiner 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
Weiner v. Commissioner, 64 T.C. 294, 1975 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 141 (tax 1975).

Opinion

Wiles, Judge:

Respondent determined a deficiency in petitioner’s income tax for the year 1970 in the amount of $2,295.52. The issue is whether petitioner is entitled to exclude the entire amount of a fellowship grant received by him during the year 1970.

FINDINGS OF FACT

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

Melvin H. Weiner (hereinafter referred to as petitioner) was a legal resident of the State of Colorado at the time the petition was filed. Petitioner filed his income tax return for 1970 with the District Director of Internal Revenue in Denver, Colo.

Petitioner graduated from the University of Michigan in 1963 with a B.S. degree in zoology. From September 1963 to June 1965, petitioner attended the California College of Medicine at the University of California. From June 1965 through June 1967, petitioner attended the University of Michigan Medical School from which he graduated during 1967, receiving an M.D. degree. From July 1967 through June 1968, petitioner served his internship at Children’s Hospital in Denver, Colo. Beginning in July 1968, petitioner entered into a residency in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital in Denver, Colo., completing 1 year of this requirement in June 1969.

Beginning July 1, 1969, petitioner commenced a research fellowship in an endeavor entitled “Laboratory Training Program in Mental Retardation,” Project No. 252 (hereinafter referred to as Project 252), administered by the University of Colorado Medical Center. His appointment was for the period July 1, 1969, through June 30, 1970. The stipend received by petitioner for his work on this project was $8,500. Project 252 was funded by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Social Rehabilitation Services, Children’s Bureau (hereinafter referred to as HEW).

Commencing with the fall quarter of 1969 and continuing through the spring quarter of 1970, petitioner was registered at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in graduate school. While enrolled in the graduate school of medicine, petitioner was taking four hours of classes per quarter. Petitioner never completed the graduate program. Research under Project 252 and courses taken by petitioner in the graduate school of medicine were in the same area of professional discipline, i.e., child development.

In connection with Project 252 there was no formal requirement by HEW that petitioner, as the recipient of the benefits, either be enrolled in graduate school or taking courses in graduate school. Petitioner was required to engage in either laboratory or clinical research of a nature encompassed by Project 252. The HEW grant was not awarded for the purpose of obtaining an academic degree. There was neither a formal nor an informal requirement imposed by either the University of Colorado Medical Center or the John F. Kennedy Child Development Training Center that fellows working under Project 252 take courses offered by the Medical Center.

The University of Colorado Medical Center, in a pamphlet entitled “Post-Doctoral Training Programs, Department of Pediatrics,” made the following statements:

The fellows are privileged to enroll in the Graduate School. This permits them to obtain an advanced degree, provided that they have satisfied the requirements of the Graduate School for such degrees. If they enroll for a minimum of four credit hours per quarter they become eligible for special tax bonuses.
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In general, fellows in clinical subspecialties are not encouraged to enter the Graduate School, but research fellows and candidates for degrees other than M.D. are required to do so. Graduate programs are also available to persons who do not have medical training, but are interested in careers in medical science.

On his 1970 income tax return, petitioner reduced his income in the amount of $4,604.08 with regard to payments received by him during 1970 pursuant to Project 252. In a notice of deficiency dated November 10, 1972, and supplement thereto dated December 7, 1972, respondent determined that petitioner realized income of $4,604.08 from the University of Colorado Medical Center pursuant to the stipends received under Project 252. At the trial respondent conceded that petitioner is entitled to an exclusion of $300 per month for the applicable number of months in 1970 under section 117(b)(2)(B).1

OPINION

The issue is whether petitioner is to be treated as a “candidate for a degree” and entitled to an exclusion in excess of $300 a month for the stipends received under the fellowship grant awarded pursuant to Project 252.

Section 117(a)2 provides that amounts received as a scholarship or fellowship grant are excludable from gross income. As a result of respondent’s concession that petitioner is entitled to at least an exclusion of $300 per month, there is no question that the fellowship grant comes within section 117(a). The general exclusionary rule of section 117(a), however, is subject to two limitations. Section 117(b)(1)3 generally provides that amounts received by a candidate for a degree are includable in income if paid for services, unless such services are required of all candidates for a particular degree as a condition to receiving such degree. Section 117(b)(2) generally provides that for individuals who are not candidates for a degree, the amount of the exclusion allowed under section 117(a) is limited to $300 a month for the number of months for which the recipient received amounts under the scholarship or fellowship grant during such taxable year.

Petitioner contends that since he was a candidate for a degree in the graduate school, University of Colorado School of Medicine, at the time he was receiving the fellowship grant under Project 252, he is subject to the limitations of 117(b)(1) and therefore should be allowed to exclude the entire amount of stipends received under the grant. Respondent contends that, in order to receive the benefits which section 117 accords to a candidate for a degree, the grant must be for the purpose of attaining an academic degree and the course work undertaken must parallel the grant. For the reasons stated below, we hold that for purposes of determining limitations on excludability of amounts received by petitioner under this fellowship grant, he is considered to be an individual who is not a candidate for a degree and is therefore subject to the provisions of section 117(b)(2)(B).

It is inherent in section 117 that there be a connection between a scholarship or fellowship excludable under section 117(a) and the capacity, i.e., candidate for a degree or not a candidate for a degree, in which received. The legislative history of section 117 supports this conclusion.

Section 117 was first enacted in the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. The House Committee on Ways and Means, in H. Rept. No. 1337,83d Cong., 2d Sess. 16-17 (1954), provided that:

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Related

Johnson v. Commissioner
1978 T.C. Memo. 90 (U.S. Tax Court, 1978)
Weiner v. Commissioner
64 T.C. 294 (U.S. Tax Court, 1975)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
64 T.C. 294, 1975 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 141, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/weiner-v-commissioner-tax-1975.