DocketNumber: Docket Nos. 26402, 26403, 26404, 26405, 26406, 26407, 26408, 33429
Judges: Murdock
Filed Date: 6/4/1952
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 10/19/2024
*177
1. Exemption --
2. Income -- Taxable to Grantor -- Charitable Trust -- Section 22 (a) --
3. Association Taxable as a Corporation -- Section 3797 (3). -- An irrevocable trust created for the purpose of receiving and earning funds ultimately to benefit charities is not an association taxable as a corporation.
4. Trusts -- Deduction -- Charitable Contributions --
5. Income -- Deductions -- Christmas Bonuses. -- Deductions allowed for Christmas bonuses.
6. Income -- Deductions -- Contributions -- "For the Use of" --
7. Statute of Limitations -- Returns Under
8. Failure to File Timely Return --
*455 The Commissioner determined deficiencies in income tax as follows:
Docket | |||
No. | Petitioner | Year | Deficiency |
1943 | $ 16,441.84 | ||
26402 | John Danz | 1944 | 46,624.14 |
1945 | 45,042.33 | ||
1943 | 16,441.84 | ||
26403 | Jessie Danz | 1944 | 46,624.14 |
1945 | 45,042.33 | ||
26405 | William Frank Danz | 1944 | 595.25 |
26406 | Selma Jane Danz | 1944 | 615.00 |
26407 | Fredric Danz | 1944 | 587.30 |
26408 | Selma Danz | 1944 | 587.30 |
The Commissioner determined the following deficiencies against the John Danz Charitable Trust, in Docket Nos. 26404 and 33429:
Year | Kind of tax | Deficiency |
1943 | Income tax | $ 2,321.50 |
Declared value excess-profits tax | 3,240.60 | |
Excess profits tax | 11,106.82 | |
1944 | Income tax | 4,563.93 |
Declared value excess-profits tax | 10,315.19 | |
Excess profits tax | 43,225.69 | |
1945 | Income tax | 6,218.81 |
Declared value excess-profits tax | 10,922.65 | |
Excess profits tax | 45,029.26 | |
1946 | Income tax | 33,219.02 |
1947 | Income tax | 19,679.63 |
*182 For 1947 there is an addition to the tax under
The issues for decision are:
(1) Is the trust exempt from tax under
(2) If the trust income is taxable, did the Commissioner err in disallowing the amounts paid as Christmas bonuses to employees for 1943, 1944, 1945, and 1946;
(3) Are the individuals entitled to deductions under
(4) Had the statutory period for assessing and collecting the tax expired before the mailing of the deficiency notice to the trust for the years 1943, 1944, and 1945; and
(5) Had the trust reasonable grounds for believing that no return was due for 1947 so that no addition to the tax is due under
FINDINGS OF FACT.
John and Jessie Danz are husband and wife. William Frank and Selma Jane Danz are husband and wife. Fredric and*183 Selma Danz *456 are husband and wife. They all reside in Seattle, Washington. John and Jessie are the parents of William and Fredric. All returns for the petitioners herein were filed with the collector of internal revenue for the district of Washington.
John Danz has been engaged in the business of operating motion picture theatres in Seattle for about forty years. He concluded during the latter part of World War II that different ideologies were causing a great deal of trouble and even had a tendency to create wars; the country was about ready for some philosophy with some common ground acceptable to everyone based upon science, pragmatism, experience, and research that would eliminate all differences of opinion; but to get such an organization started in a large number of communities would require money. He and his wife created a trust on December 31, 1942, for the purpose of making and supplying money for that purpose. They called it "The John Danz Charitable Trust." John hoped to find some organization in the United States with a number of branches which could be helped with the trust funds to grow and educate the people. He did not know of any such organization at*184 the time he created the trust and for that reason reserved in the trust the right to designate the charitable beneficiaries of the trust.
John and Jessie, as grantors, transferred to the trustees by the trust instrument 900 shares of Sterling Theatres, Inc., common stock. John, William, and Fredric Danz were named as trustees in the trust instrument. The trustees were given broad powers over the trust property, including the power to engage in business under various forms, to loan funds of the trust with or without security, to join in enterprises in which the trustees were personally interested provided that they exercised good faith in the interests of the trust estate, and, in investing or speculating, to combine funds of any trusts created by the grantors. The trustees were entitled to receive reasonable compensation for their services but received none during the taxable years. They were not to be personally liable, in the absence of bad faith, for any losses from proper use of the trust funds. The grantors were not to derive and they have not derived, directly or indirectly, any benefit from the trust property. John Danz was to have the right during his lifetime and by*185 his will to designate the beneficiary or beneficiaries of the trust and to change, add, or withdraw beneficiaries which were to receive corpus or income of the trust at times and in amounts specified by him. Designations were to be in writing delivered to the trustees. Only a corporation or organization "of a type which is within the exemption from Federal Income Tax now granted by Paragraph
Leslie Stusser was not related to or employed by any of the Danzes mentioned herein.
No amendments were made in the trust during the taxable years. John, William, and Fredric Danz served as trustees of the trust from its inception throughout the taxable years. Books and records were kept for the trust. Title to all of the assets of the trust has been taken in the name of the trustees. Bank accounts were maintained for the trust.
John and Jessie Danz made additional contributions to the trust during the taxable years in cash, in stock of Sterling Theatres, Inc., and in stock of Sterling Theatres Company, Inc. William and Selma Jane Danz and Fredric and Selma Danz*187 made cash contributions to the trust during the taxable years. The total contributions made to the trust during the taxable years, taken at the fair market value of each at the time it was made, amounted to $ 109,542. The stock in Sterling Theatres, Inc., and in Sterling Theatres Company, Inc., held by the trust was a small part of the total outstanding stock of those corporations and played no part in the control or management of those corporations.
John Danz, after the creation of the trust, continued, at his own expense, to search for the type of organization which he had in mind in forming the trust, and after several years of travel and search he decided that there were groups of Humanists which came close to what he had in mind. He was instrumental with others in starting such an organization in Seattle beginning in the early part of 1947. It was incorporated as the Humanist Society of Washington. Prior thereto and beginning in September 1946, he had designated "American *458 Humanist Society," an organization which had a number of affiliates in different parts of the United States, as a beneficiary to receive funds of the trust in the total amount of $ 11,500. He*188 was also instrumental, along with others, in starting the Humanist Society of San Francisco and, after the taxable years, in starting the Humanist Society of Los Angeles. The first distribution from the trust to the Humanist Society of Washington was made on March 20, 1947. Thereafter during that year additional large distributions were made to it, to the Humanist Society of San Francisco, and to other charitable organizations.
The trust purchased 600 shares of stock of Midland Steel Products for $ 17,691.64 in 1943 and sold those shares for a profit of $ 4,583.62 in 1945. It bought and retained 500 shares of Anaconda Copper in 1945 and 1,500 shares in 1946, and, in 1946, 1,000 shares each of Boeing Airplane Company, National Gypsum, and Westinghouse Electric at a total cost of $ 161,154.25. It also held on December 31, 1947, donated shares of Sterling Theatres, Inc., and Sterling Theatres Company, Inc., which it carried at $ 56,992.
The trust made the following purchases:
Cost | Year | |
Savoy Hotel Property, including furnishings and fixtures | $ 166,440.76 | 1943 |
Improved real estate Seventh and Pike | 95,544.23 | 1943 |
Improved real estate Eighth and Pike | 42,866.11 | 1943 |
Improved real estate Sixth and University | 75,104.70 | 1946 |
Improved real estate San Francisco | 42,882.35 | 1947 |
*189 It held the properties during the remaining taxable years and received rents therefrom, except that it sold the property at Eighth and Pike in 1946 at a profit of $ 43,740.78. The Savoy Hotel property and the Seventh and Pike properties substantially increased in value during the taxable years. There was a mortgage on the Savoy Hotel building in the amount of about $ 68,000 at the end of 1943. It was reduced $ 21,676 during 1944, but by the end of 1945 it had been increased to about $ 91,000. Thereafter, it was gradually reduced until it amounted to $ 45,739.74 at the end of 1947. There was a mortgage on the Seventh and Pike property which amounted to $ 44,860.04 at the end of 1943. It had been reduced to $ 19,689.04 by the end of 1945 and was paid off in 1946. There was a mortgage on the Sixth and University property which amounted to $ 54,582.22 at the end of 1946. It had been reduced to about $ 45,000 at the end of 1947.
The trust borrowed money from John Danz and from Sterling Theatres, Inc., at 3 per cent during the taxable years. John had to borrow money at interest rates in excess of 3 per cent to make the loans to the trust. The loans payable of the trust at the*190 end of 1943 amounted to $ 138,321.06. They were about $ 4,000 less at the end of 1944 and amounted to about $ 1,800 at the end of 1945. They amounted to $ 109,000 at the end of 1946 and to $ 89,500 at the end of 1947.
*459 The trust purchased a retail candy shop on September 10, 1943, for $ 1,514.75, another on September 22, 1943, for $ 875, and a third on January 31, 1944, for $ 1,500. It operated each shop after the purchase throughout the taxable years but at some undisclosed time thereafter ceased operating them. Each candy shop was adjacent to a theatre owned or managed by Sterling Theatres, Inc. Jessie Danz managed the three candy shops without pay because she wanted to make a contribution in that way to the acquisition of funds for the charitable trust.
The net worth of the trust, as shown on its balance sheets, increased from $ 65,862.62 at the end of 1943 to $ 448,420.09 at the end of 1947.
The average of the annual gross receipts from the Savoy Hotel for the taxable years was about $ 141,000, the operating expenses about $ 96,400, and the net income about $ 44,600. The trust had additional income from rentals during the taxable years ranging from $ 2,270 in 1943*191 to $ 12,564.50 in 1945. The total sales of the candy shops during the taxable years were $ 329,233.95, the net sales $ 158,689.10, expenses $ 106,435.75, and the net profits from the operation, including a small amount of income from telephones, were $ 52,650.44. Dividends received by the trust during the taxable years amounted to $ 23,458.10. The total net income of the trust for the taxable years, including profits on sales, was $ 404,526.29.
The trust made no distributions in 1943. Thereafter, it made distributions to a number of organizations, exempt from tax under
The Humanist Society of Washington occupied a large portion of the Sixth and University building rent-free from the time of the inception of that organization. The trust received rent from some other space in that building. The building in San Francisco was occupied rent-free by the Humanist Society of San Francisco.
The intention of the trustees in purchasing the Savoy Hotel property was *192 to operate it only until the personal property could be sold and the real property leased to a hotel operator. Efforts were made to find such a lessee but no satisfactory arrangement was made until January 1, 1948. The hotel, at the time it was purchased by the trust, was being operated by a real estate company in Seattle and that company continued to operate the property for the trust under an oral agreement during the taxable years and until January 1, 1948, when the furnishings were sold for $ 60,000 and the real estate was leased to a hotel operator.
The trust made no loans to the grantors and no joint investments with anyone during the taxable years.
*460
The Commissioner, in determining the deficiencies for the years 1943, 1944, and 1945 against John Danz and Jessie Danz, held that the entire income of the John Danz Charitable Trust was taxable to them under the provisions of section 22 (a), and no part of the deductions claimed on the returns of the taxpayers as contributions to the trust was allowable as a deduction under
The Commissioner, in determining the deficiencies for 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, and 1947 against the John Danz Charitable Trust, held that it was not exempt under
Since no reasonable cause existed after July 1947 for failure to file returns of income, and since a return for the year ended December 31, 1947, was not filed until May 7, 1948, a delinquency penalty of 10 per cent of the tax liability has been asserted under the provisions of
The Commissioner, in determining the deficiencies for 1944 against William Frank and Selma Jane Danz, held that the deduction of*194 $ 3,000 claimed by them as a contribution to Jane Danz Charitable Trust was not allowable as a deduction under
The Commissioner, in determining the deficiencies against Fredric and Selma Danz for 1944, held that the deduction of $ 3,200 claimed by them as a contribution to the John Danz Charitable Trust was not allowable as a deduction under
All facts stipulated by the parties are incorporated herein by this reference.
OPINION.
One of the requirements for exemption under
The Commissioner devotes a considerable portion of his brief to a vain effort to support his contention that the income of the trust for the years 1943, 1944, and 1945 is taxable to the community of John and Jessie Danz under section 22 (a) and the principle of the line of cases headed by*197
Another contention of the Commissioner, inconsistent with that just discussed, is that the trust was an association taxable as a corporation. One of the leading cases on that subject is
It is no answer to say that these advantages flow from the very nature of trusts. For the question has arisen because of the use and adaptation of the trust mechanism. The suggestion ignores the postulate that we are considering those trusts which have the distinctive feature of being created to enable the participants to carry on a business and divide the gains which accrue from their common undertaking, trusts that thus satisfy the primary conception of association and have the attributes to which we have referred, distinguishing them from partnerships. In such a case, we think that these attributes make the trust sufficiently analogous to corporate organization to justify the conclusion that Congress intended that the income of the enterprise should be taxed in the same manner as that of corporations.
The John Danz Charitable Trust was not created to enable the participants to carry on a business and divide the gains which might accrue from their*200 undertaking. The persons who created it were not participants in a common undertaking of carrying on the business of the trust. They did not divide the gains which accrued from the business of the trust. This was an ordinary trust and it did not have attributes making it sufficiently analogous to a corporation to justify the conclusion that Congress intended to tax its income in the same *463 manner as that of corporations. The Commissioner cites no case holding that a trust like this one, which was organized to aid charities rather than it grantors, was an association taxable as a corporation and he erred in making such a holding in this case.
This trust was a genuine valid trust.
The Commissioner erred in disallowing the amounts paid by the trust as Christmas bonuses to employees for 1943, 1944, 1945, and 1946. Those represented amounts ranging from $ 5 to $ 35 determined by the manager of the hotel to be suitable*204 bonuses for various employees of the hotel, and a bonus to the manager ranging from $ 50 to $ 150 per year fixed by the real estate company as agent for the trust in the operation of the hotel. The determination of the Commissioner indicates that they were disallowed not because in excess of reasonable compensation for the employees but because the trust had not deducted withholding or social security taxes from the amounts paid, except in the year 1947 which is not in controversy. A deduction for the payment of $ 125 to the manager in 1945 was allowed by the Commissioner. He erred in not allowing deductions of all of the amounts claimed.
The holding that the trust was not organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes under issue (1) also has a bearing upon issue (3) in which the individual petitioners claim that they are entitled to deductions under
*465 The trust contends that Forms 990 which it filed on September 19, 1946, for the calendar years 1943, 1944, and 1945 started the running of the statutory period for assessment and collection of its taxes for those years so that the notice of deficiency mailed to it on October 14, 1949, more than three years later, was too late. The returns to which it refers are those required by
*466 The Commissioner notified the trustees by a letter dated November 22, 1946, that the trust was not exempt from tax and that income tax returns for all years would be required. Reconsideration was requested and the Commissioner again wrote the trustees on July 3, 1947, that upon reconsideration of the matter the previous conclusion was affirmed and returns must be filed. Fiduciary returns on Form 1041 were filed for the trust on July 28, 1947, covering the years 1943, 1944, 1945, and 1946. The first similar return for 1947 was filed on May 6, 1948. The latter return was due on March 15, 1948. The Commissioner assessed a 10 per cent addition to the tax for 1947 under
*. Proceedings of the following petitioners are consolidated herewith: Jessie Danz, Docket No. 26403; William Frank Danz, Docket No. 26405; Selma Jane Danz, Docket No. 26406; Fredric Danz, Docket No. 26407; Selma Danz, Docket No. 26408; John Danz Charitable Trust, Docket Nos. 26404 and 33429.↩
1. Income from those businesses would not be exempt under the 1950 Amendments. See section 301, Revenue Act of 1950. Substantially all of the work of carrying on the candy shops was not performed without compensation. See section 422 (b) provided by that amendment.