Weiss v. Commissioner

1990 T.C. Memo. 492, 60 T.C.M. 746, 1990 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 544
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedSeptember 12, 1990
DocketDocket No. 33027-83
StatusUnpublished

This text of 1990 T.C. Memo. 492 (Weiss 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
Weiss v. Commissioner, 1990 T.C. Memo. 492, 60 T.C.M. 746, 1990 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 544 (tax 1990).

Opinion

ROBERT B. WEISS and ALMA B. WEISS, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
Weiss v. Commissioner
Docket No. 33027-83
United States Tax Court
T.C. Memo 1990-492; 1990 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 544; 60 T.C.M. (CCH) 746; T.C.M. (RIA) 90492;
September 12, 1990, Filed
*544

Decision will be entered under Rule 155.

Sidney A. Soltz, for the petitioners.
Theresa E. Mitchell, for the respondent.
JACOBS, Judge.

JACOBS

MEMORANDUM FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION

Respondent determined a deficiency of $ 95,390 in petitioners' Federal income taxes for 1979.

After concessions, the issues for decision are: (1) whether petitioner Robert B. Weiss' interest in Hawaiian Village Partnership was terminated on November 15, 1979, resulting in (a) the disallowance of claimed partnership losses occurring subsequent to that date, (b) the recognition of capital gain, (c) the disallowance of a claimed investment tax credit for 1979, and (d) recapture of a prior year's investment tax credit; (2) whether petitioners are entitled to claimed deductions for legal and accounting fees; (3) whether petitioners are entitled to deductions claimed with respect to petitioner Alma B. Weiss' Schedule C business activity in excess of the amount respondent allowed; (4) whether petitioner Alma B. Weiss is liable for self-employment tax attributable to her Schedule C business activity; and (5) whether petitioner Alma B. Weiss qualifies for innocent spouse relief under section 6013(e). 1*545

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. The stipulation of facts and accompanying exhibits are incorporated herein by this reference.

Robert B. and Alma B. Weiss, husband and wife, resided in Coral Gables, Florida, at the time they filed their petition. Mr. Weiss (Weiss) is a real estate developer; Mrs. Weiss is a real estate sales agent. During 1979, Mr. Weiss was the sole shareholder and President of Personal Management Services, Inc.

Sometime in 1977 or early 1978, Weiss was informed by Gabriel Jollis (Jollis), a real estate broker, that the Hawaiian Village Motel located in Tampa, Florida, was for sale. (Prior to moving to Florida, Weiss had actively engaged in real estate development in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Jollis had previously sold properties in the Washington, D.C. area to Weiss.) After determining that the motel had substantial profit potential, Weiss attempted to syndicate the purchase of the motel through the *546 sale of limited partnership interests; his efforts in this regard were unsuccessful. In late 1978, Jollis contacted David H. Hillman (Hillman) (a CPA having an accounting firm in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area who was actively engaged in real estate investments through a real estate acquisition and management company known as Southern Management Company) inquiring whether Hillman would be interested in making an investment in the property. After several meetings with Jollis, Hillman began negotiations with Weiss through Jollis. Weiss and Hillman eventually agreed that Hillman would provide limited working capital and obtain financing to purchase the motel and Weiss (who was an experienced motel operator) would manage it.

On November 6, 1978, Weiss and Hillman signed a letter of intent confirming their agreement to enter into a partnership to purchase and operate the motel. Thereafter, on December 22, 1978, Weiss, Hillman, Martin Thaler (Thaler) and Melvin Lenkin (Lenkin) formed a general partnership to acquire and operate the motel. (Thaler, a friend and client of Hillman, is an attorney practicing in the Washington, D.C. area; Lenkin is a builder/developer and a former *547 partner of Hillman in Central Management Company, the predecessor of Southern Management Company.) Pursuant to the partnership agreement, the profits and losses of the partnership were to be divided and allocated 50 percent to Weiss and 50 percent equally among Hillman, Thaler, and Lenkin (the Hillman Group).

Concurrently with its organization, the newly formed partnership (known as the "Hawaiian Village Partnership") entered into a management agreement with Weiss and Personal Management Services, Inc. As manager, Weiss was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the motel. In exchange for managing the motel, Weiss (through Personal Management Services, Inc.) was to receive 5 percent of the motel's gross income, with a monthly draw of $ 10,000 to be applied against the 5 percent management fee. The management agreement was terminable at the option of the partnership in the event the motel did not show an annual net cash flow (as defined in the management agreement) of at least $ 250,000.

Immediately prior to the formation of the Hawaiian Village Partnership, the Hillman Group arranged to borrow $ 1,000,000 from Union First National Bank of Washington (Union First Bank). (Union *548 First Bank was a client of Thaler.) Union First Bank agreed to make a loan in such amount to any partnership which the Hillman Group formed provided that Hillman, Thaler, and Lenkin jointly and severally guaranteed the loan. The loan was made in December 1978 on a 90-day, unsecured basis. In February 1979, the partnership renewed the loan and pledged the motel as security.

Paragraph 4 of the partnership agreement provided:

4. CAPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS.

Each of the partners shall contribute and loan to the partnership, as a capital contribution and cash loan thereto, the sums of money set out opposite their signature hereto.

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Bluebook (online)
1990 T.C. Memo. 492, 60 T.C.M. 746, 1990 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 544, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/weiss-v-commissioner-tax-1990.