Woodard Governor Co. v. Commissioner

55 T.C. 56, 1970 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 51
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedOctober 19, 1970
DocketDocket No. 1317-68
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 55 T.C. 56 (Woodard Governor Co. 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
Woodard Governor Co. v. Commissioner, 55 T.C. 56, 1970 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 51 (tax 1970).

Opinion

Simpson, Judge:

The respondent determined a deficiency in the petitioner’s income tax for its taxable year ended September 30, 1963, in the amount of $146,333.49. One of the issues in this case has been settled. The remaining question to be decided is whether the respondent was authorized under section 482 of the Internal Revenue Code of 19541 to allocate to the petitioner certain income which, the parties treated as earned by its subsidiary, Woodward Governor GmbH.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated, and those facts are so found.

The petitioner is an Illinois corporation, which had its principal office and place of business in Eockford, Ill., at the time its petition was filed in this case. It filed its Federal income tax return for its taxable year ending September 30, 1963, using the accrual method of accounting, with the district director of internal revenue, Chicago, Ill.

The petitioner is engaged in the manufacture of prime mover controls, also known as governors, for various types of power units. These controls are divided into three separate product lines: (1) General aircraft (gas turbine and propellor) controls; (2) industrial engine (diesel and gas) and industrial turbine (steam and gas) controls; and (3) hydraulic turbine controls. The manufacture and proper installation and use of its products in power units, particularly of the more complex type such as aircraft engines, require considerable technical and engineering sophistication and know-how.

In addition to its main manufacturing facilities at Eockford, Ill., the petitioner had manufacturing plants in Fort Collins, Colo.; Slough, England; Schiphol, the Netherlands; and Tokyo, Japan. The Schiphol, Slough, and Tokyo plants began operations in 1955, 1958, and 1961, respectively. All three foreign plants had assembly, testing, and service facilities, as well as limited machine shop capabilities. The products manufactured in the Schiphol and Slough plants were sold primarily throughout Europe and were for use on industrial engines and turbines, and the products manufactured in the Tokyo plant were sold principally to diesel engine builders in Japan.

The net pretax profit earned by the petitioner for 1963 as a percentage of its total sales was 13.5 percent. The net pretax profit earned by the petitioner’s Aircraft Controls Division for 1963 as a percentage of its total sales was 17.6 percent.

The NATO Starfighter Program

Prior to 1959, the Lockheed Aircraft Corp. (Lockheed) developed a fighter-interceptor bomber known as the F104 Starfighter (the Star-fighter) . The Starfighter was selected by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for use in the development and maintenance of its military potential. Thereafter, NATO initiated a program under which production of the Starfighter airframe (excluding the powerplant and its parts and accessories) was licensed by Lockheed to various construction firms in West Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy. At approximately the same time, Lockheed granted similar licenses in Japan and Canada.

The Starfighter was powered by an engine developed by the General Electric Co. (GE) and designated by GE as the J-79 gas turbine engine (the J-79 engine). Production of the J-79 engine was licensed by GE to various firms in West Germany, Belgium, Italy, Japan, and Canada. The J-79 engines manufactured by such firms were incorporated into the Starfighter airframes.

Development and Selection of the 1307

In 1952, the petitioner began to develop the Type 1307 main fuel control (the 1307) for use in aircraft gas turbine engines. The 1307 is an extremely sophisticated and complex fuel control. Its function is to control the flow of fuel to the aircraft gas turbine engine under all conditions of altitude, attitude, temperature, acceleration, deceleration, and steady speed.

On January 7, 1955, the 1307 was selected by GE as the alternate main fuel control for use in the J-79 engine. At that time, the primary main fuel control was manufactured by the Bendix Corp. (Bendix) . In 1957, the 1307 was selected by GE as the primary main fuel control to be used in its J-79 engine and thus replaced the fuel control manufactured by Bendix as the primary fuel control.

Petitioner's General Pricing Policy and Procedure

The petitioner’s first step in arriving at a list price for a product in production quantities is to determine the total manufacturing cost of the product according to its internal cost-accounting procedures. After the total manufacturing costs of the product is determined, the petitioner’s next step is to arrive at a net price for the product by adding a profit margin to its total manufacturing cost. Many factors are considered in determining the profit margin, including the market potential, the risk involved, and special circumstances (e.g., special tooling, special test equipment). The net price is used by the petitioner as the selling price when there is only one customer for the product.

"When there are several classes of customers, the petitioner determines a list price and the appropriate discounts from list price to be allowed to its customers for the product. These discounts are based upon the petitioner’s analysis of industry practices and vary as between, the petitioner’s different product lines. For example, the largest or prime discount allowed by the petitioner in its industrial engine and turbine product line is 35 percent, whereas the prime discount allowed by the petitioner in its aircraft product line is 50 percent. Within each product line, the discounts vary according to customer classification, with the prime discounts allowed to so-called “original equipment manufacturers.”

The final step in arriving at the list price of the product is to add to the net price an appropriate markup so that sales at the list price less prime discount will yield the net price. For example, in the industrial engine and turbine product line in which the petitioner’s prime discount is 35 percent, the list price is determined by dividing the net price by 65, the complement of the prime discount, and multiplying by 100. Similarly, in the aircraft produced line in which the prime discount is 50 percent, the list price is determined by dividing the net price by 50, and multiplying by 100.

Sales of 1807’s to GE

The petitioner’s first sales of 1307’s to GE were of prototype units. The petitioner began to sell 1307’s to GE in production quantities in 1957 after GE had selected the 1307 as the primary main fuel control for the J-79 engine, and these sales continued throughout the taxable year in issue and thereafter on a regular and continuing basis.

The petitioner’s initial sales of 1307’s in production quantities to GE were at net prices, which included the total manufacturing cost thereof plus a profit margin. However, prior to 1961, the petitioner developed a list price for the 1307, and in accordance with its general pricing policy, established discounts for the different classes of customers. According to this policy, the 1307’s were sold to domestic original equipment manufacturers, and to the U.S.

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Bluebook (online)
55 T.C. 56, 1970 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 51, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/woodard-governor-co-v-commissioner-tax-1970.