Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Department of Revenue

469 N.E.2d 267, 127 Ill. App. 3d 323, 82 Ill. Dec. 733, 1984 Ill. App. LEXIS 2285
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 13, 1984
DocketNo. 81—2936
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 469 N.E.2d 267 (Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Department of Revenue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Department of Revenue, 469 N.E.2d 267, 127 Ill. App. 3d 323, 82 Ill. Dec. 733, 1984 Ill. App. LEXIS 2285 (Ill. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

JUSTICE ROMITI

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff-appellant Weyerhaeuser Company appeals from an order of the circuit court of Cook County upholding the determination of defendant-appellee, the Department of Revenue of the State of Illinois, that Weyerhaeuser owed $102,349 in additional income taxes. This additional tax liability resulted from the department’s disallowance of a claimed valuation limitation amount of $147,035,792.

We affirm.

In Thorpe v. Mahin (1969), 43 Ill. 2d 36, 250 N.E.2d 633, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the validity of the Illinois Income Tax Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 120, par. 1—101 et seq.). In so doing, that court found that the legislature intended an August 1, 1969 (the effective date of the Act), valuation limitation in computing taxable gain on property. The court explained the valuation limitation as follows:

“*** in computing taxable gain on property acquired prior to August 1, 1969, the basis is date of acquisition value or the August 1, 1969, value, whichever is greater; in computing a deductible loss on property acquired prior to August 1, 1969, the basis is the date of acquisition value or the August 1, 1969, value, whichever is less.” (Thorpe v. Mahin (1969), 43 Ill. 2d 36, 54, 250 N.E.2d 633, 642.)

The Illinois legislature then expressly adopted this valuation limitation for individuals, trusts, and estates but excluded corporations. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 120, pars. 2—203(a)(2)(F) and 2—203(c)(2)(F); see pars. 2—203(b) and 2—203(g).) These amendments were made applicable to all taxable years beginning after December 31, 1970.

Pursuant to Federal income tax law Weyerhaeuser has elected to utilize a taxable year which varies from 52 to 53 weeks and ends on the last Sunday in December. (26 U.S.C.A. sec. 441(f)(1978).) The taxable year at issue here began on December 28, 1970, and ended December 26, 1971.

When Weyerhaeuser filed its Illinois income tax return, it took the position that the amended statute eliminating the valuation limitation did not apply since its taxable year began on December 28, 1970, and the statutory amendment applied to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1970. The department disallowed the valuation limitation, finding that the following provisions of the Federal statute dealing with 52-53 week accounting periods were applicable:

“(f) Election of year consisting of 52-53 weeks.
(1) General rule. A taxpayer who, in keeping his books, regularly computes his income on the basis of an annual period which varies from 52 to 53 weeks and ends always on the same day of the week and ends always—
(A) on whatever date such same day of the week last occurs in a calendar month, or
(B) on whatever date such same day of the week falls which is nearest to the last day of a calendar month,
may *** elect to compute his taxable income for purposes of this subtitle on the basis of such annual period. ***
(2) Special rules for 52-53 week year.
(A) Effective dates. In any case in which the effective date or the applicability of any provision of this title is expressed in terms of taxable years beginning, including, or ending with reference to a specified date which is the first or last day of a month, a taxable year described in paragraph (1) shall (except for purposes of the computation under section 21) be treated—
(i) as beginning with the first day of the calendar month beginning nearest to the first day of such taxable year, or
(ii) as ending with the last day of the calendar month ending nearest to the last day of such taxable year, as the case may be.” (26 U.S.C.A. sec. 441(f)(1978).)

Application of this section transformed Weyerhaeuser’s taxable year to one beginning January 1, 1971, and thus invalidated its deduction of the valuation limitation amount in computing its capital gains. On administrative review of the department’s determination, the circuit court affirmed the department’s position and also rejected certain constitutional objections raised by Weyerhaeuser in relation to the elimination of the valuation limitation for use by corporations.

The principal issue before us is the applicability of section 441(f)(2)(A) in determining what constitutes Weyerhaeuser’s taxable year for purposes of determining the applicability of the statutory elimination of the valuation limitation for corporations. Section 1 — 102 of the Illinois Income Tax Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 120, par. 1—102) provides:

“Except as otherwise expressly provided or clearly appearing from the context, any term used in this Act shall have the same meaning as when used in a comparable context in the United States Internal Revenue Code ***.”

Thus, as a rule of construction, terms are to be given the same meaning for purposes of both State and Federal tax statutes. (Bodine Electric Co. v. Allphin (1980), 81 Ill. 2d 502, 410 N.E.2d 828.) Section 4-410(a) of the Illinois Income Tax Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 120, par. 4—401(a)) provides:

“(a) In general. For purposes of the tax imposed by this Act, the taxable year of a person shall be the same as the taxable year of such person for federal income tax purposes ***.”

As we have noted, section 441(f)(2)(A) allows a taxpayer to select a 52-53 week fiscal year but also limits that right by providing that for purposes of determining the applicability of statutes which become effective on the first day of a month such 52-53 week fiscal years will be treated as beginning with the first day of the calendar month beginning nearest to the first day of that taxable year. We find no basis for concluding that in determining what constitutes a 52-53 week fiscal year as defined in the Federal statute we should be limited to only the first, permissive, portion of that statute. The second portion is applicable because the Illinois statute setting out the effective date for abolition of the deduction is expressed in terms of a taxable year beginning with the first day of a month, namely January 1, 1971. Thus, we conclude that the department was justified in determining that Weyerhaeuser was not entitled to the valuation limitation deduction.

This conclusion is supported by an analogous Connecticut case, Eastman Kodak Co. v. Sullivan (1975), 32 Conn. Supp. 127, 342 A.2d 913. There the applicable Connecticut statute specifically permitted a taxpayer to elect a 52-53 week fiscal year in accordance with the provisions of the Federal internal revenue code.

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Bluebook (online)
469 N.E.2d 267, 127 Ill. App. 3d 323, 82 Ill. Dec. 733, 1984 Ill. App. LEXIS 2285, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/weyerhaeuser-co-v-department-of-revenue-illappct-1984.