1973 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122">*122
Petitioner husband was a partner in a securities brokerage business which in the course of that business dealt in tax-exempt securities. It regularly borrowed funds on a daily basis for its various business needs.
60 T.C. 253">*254 Respondent determined the following deficiencies in petitioners' income tax:
Year | Deficiencies |
1964 | $ 6,697.96 |
1965 | 6,324.10 |
1966 | 5,271.86 |
The issue for decision is whether, within the meaning of
FINDINGS OF FACT
Some of the facts have been stipulated. The stipulation of facts and attached exhibits are incorporated herein by this reference.
Petitioners James C. Bradford and Eleanor A. Bradford, husband and wife, resided in Nashville, Tenn., when they filed their petition herein. Their joint Federal income tax returns for the calendar years 1964, 1965, and 1966 were filed with the district director of internal revenue, Nashville, Tenn. Eleanor A. Bradford is a petitioner herein only by virtue of having joined in said returns. Accordingly, any reference to petitioner will be deemed to mean James C. Bradford.
Petitioner was a partner in J. C. Bradford & Co. (hereinafter1973 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122">*124 referred to as Bradford), a partnership that kept its books and filed partnership information returns for Federal income tax purposes using the cash method of accounting and the calendar year as its annual accounting period.
Bradford's business consisted of buying and selling securities, either as a broker for its customers or as a dealer for its own account; underwriting new issues of taxable securities and tax-exempt bonds; loaning to its customers on margin to finance their purchase of securities; and providing investment and financial counseling. The firm also purchased and held taxable securities for its own account.
Bradford purchased tax-exempt bonds only as a dealer for resale to customers and never with the intent to hold them as investments for its own account. It participated in syndicates that underwrote new issues of such bonds, marketing them primarily to banks and other institutional investors. Over 90 percent of the tax-exempt bonds that Bradford underwrote were resold to customers before Bradford was required to pay the issuer for them. Bradford also purchased blocks of tax-exempt bonds on the open market, ordinarily reselling them to a customer before Bradford1973 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122">*125 was required to pay for its purchase. Bradford maintained a market for its customers in the tax-exempt bonds that it underwrote or in which it dealt. This activity consisted of buying 60 T.C. 253">*255 back such bonds from a customer and reselling them to another customer as quickly as possible. In addition to these activities as a dealer in tax-exempt bonds, Bradford would also act as a broker for its customers in the purchase and sale of tax-exempt bonds.
Bradford carried tax-exempt bonds only from the date it paid for the bonds it purchased until the date it was supposed to deliver them to a new purchaser (the settlement date). On the settlement date, Bradford credited the bonds to the customer's account and debited an account receivable from the customer in the amount of the purchase price plus any interest accrued to the settlement date. During the years in issue, the interval between the date of sale and the settlement date was set at 4 business days, but actual delivery of the bonds was sometimes delayed for several days because of the distant location of the purchaser or for up to a month because of a need to effect the transfer of registered bonds. Bradford's institutional 1973 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122">*126 customers paid for the bonds they purchased only upon actual delivery of the bonds. Bradford's individual customers would ordinarily make payment on the settlement date and the bonds would be delivered later or held in safekeeping for the customer.
Bradford collected any interest receivable on the tax-exempt bonds it held and reported it on its partnership returns as tax-exempt interest income in the amounts indicated on page 256
Bradford never pledged tax-exempt bonds as security for any of the indebtedness it incurred.
Bradford loaned to customers on margin to finance their purchase of securities. Customers never borrowed on margin, however, to finance the purchase of tax-exempt bonds. Bradford generally charged its customers an interest rate on margin loans that was one-half of 1 percent above the rate of interest that Bradford paid on its own borrowings. Because the banks which lent to Bradford usually required a compensating balance equal to 20 percent of the loans, the rate of interest that Bradford charged its customers on margin loans was not in itself sufficient to offset the cost of Bradford's own borrowings. For competitive reasons, nevertheless, Bradford1973 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122">*127 found it necessary to carry margin accounts and the brokerage commissions generated from these accounts resulted in an overall profit for the firm.
Generally, all cash receipts and disbursements of Bradford were deposited and withdrawn daily from various general-purpose checking accounts. Bradford's deposits in these accounts included proceeds from its bank borrowings, receipts from sales of securities owned by both Bradford and its customers, cash advances by customers, cash from other brokers taken as collateral for securities that Bradford loaned to them, and cash from advances and capital contributions from 60 T.C. 253">*256 partners. Disbursements from the accounts included payment for purchases of securities by both Bradford and its customers, cash withdrawals by customers, payment of principal and interest on loans to banks and subordinated lenders, payment of amounts due to other brokers, and replenishment of funds and special checking accounts maintained to pay operating expenses of Bradford.
In Bradford's general-purpose checking accounts, funds were commingled so that the source of such funds could not be traced through the accounts to any particular application of the funds. 1973 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122">*128 For example, the proceeds from bank loans were commingled in the general account with all of Bradford's other cash receipts; then, from such accounts, Bradford, among other things, both loaned funds to customers for the purchase of securities on margin and made payments for the purchase of tax-exempt bonds.
The amount of funds that Bradford borrowed from banks was determined on a daily basis. This determination was made by a clerk who at a specific time each day would contact each section of the cashier's department to determine the amounts of receipts and disbursements to that point of the day and the amounts of receipts and disbursements that could be expected for the remainder of the day. If total disbursements for the day were expected to exceed total receipts, Bradford would borrow from banks the amount needed to maintain a reasonable cash position. If total receipts for the day were expected to exceed total disbursements, Bradford would repay to the banks the amount not needed to maintain a reasonable cash position. No specific check was made of the amounts of receipts and disbursements from sales and purchases of tax-exempt bonds, nor was a specific check made of the amounts1973 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122">*129 of debit balances in customers' margin accounts.
The average monthly value of Bradford's assets was $ 26,294,700 in 1964 and $ 26,760,444 in 1966. The average monthly value of all tax-exempt bonds owned by Bradford was $ 605,658 in 1964 and $ 736,191 in 1966, including tax-exempt bonds contributed to Bradford by its partners in the amount of $ 150,840 in 1964 and $ 155,680 in 1966. The average monthly amounts due to Bradford from its customers, including the debit balances of customers' margin accounts, was $ 7,393,890 in 1964 and $ 9,207,000 in 1966. Actual figures in regard to these items are unavailable for the year 1965, but the parties have stipulated that the average of the 1964 and 1966 figures may be deemed to be the figures for 1965.
On its partnership information returns, Bradford reported gross income of $ 1,418,748 in 1964, $ 4,679,658 in 1965, and $ 1,966,532 in 1966. In addition, Bradford's returns showed tax-exempt interest income of $ 22,050.59 in 1964, $ 57,210.85 in 1965, and $ 19,253.73 in 1966. 60 T.C. 253">*257 Bradford paid interest on its indebtedness in the total amount of $ 355,965 in 1964, $ 494,445 in 1965, and $ 544,377 in 1966, and deducted these entire amounts1973 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122">*130 as interest expense on its partnership returns for the respective years.
Respondent determined that a portion of Bradford's interest expense in each year was not allowable as a deduction, because it was, within the meaning of
Respondent computed such unallowable portion by multiplying the total interest expense paid by Bradford in each year by a fraction: (a) The numerator of which was the average monthly value during the year of tax-exempt bonds owned by Bradford, and (b) the denominator of which was the average monthly value during the year of Bradford's total assets less the capital contributed by the partners.
The amounts thus computed1973 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122">*131 were $ 17,203 for 1964, $ 22,471 for 1965, and $ 23,171 for 1966. Respondent limited the amount of the disallowance for 1966, however, to $ 19,253.73, the amount of tax-exempt interest income reported by Bradford for that year.
As a consequence of the disallowance under
OPINION
This case presents the occasion for a reappraisal of
In
At the threshold of our analysis in
On appeal, the Second Circuit agreed that the proper test was the
The critical difference between our approach and that of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals is revealed by the following key sentences in the two opinions:
(1) This Court (
Thus, there was some relationship between its [the partnership's] indebtedness and its holding in tax-exempts -- if it had held no tax-exempts, it would have had to borrow less. Nevertheless, we think that the circumstances of this case do not support an inference that indebtedness was incurred to purchase the tax-exempt holdings.
(2) The Second Circuit Court of Appeals (
Had Bache not held the tax-exempt securities, its monthly average assets would be decreased by $ 1,935,522.67, and it presumably would incur decreased indebtedness in that amount, and thence decreased interest1973 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122">*134 expense.
Moreover, the fact that money was borrowed "in the conduct of Bache's large and many-sided business activities" by no means negates the existence of a purpose, to the extent that the borrowing allowed Bache to deal in and retain a portion of the tax-exempts. To the contrary, in computing its daily cash needs for the purposes of borrowing, Bache took into account the amount of intended purchases of tax-exempt securities. * * *
Thus, there is no question that the requisite purpose must first be found. If the borrowings are clearly for nontainted purposes, the deduction is allowed even though the taxpayer may in fact own tax-exempt securities.
60 T.C. 253">*259 The instant situation, like that in
Petitioners' approach is far too simplistic. It would enable Bradford to escape the strictures of
"Allocation" in
Nor are we impressed with petitioner's attempts to bootstrap themselves to a favorable decision herein by arguing that: (1)
In short, upon further reflection, we have concluded that1973 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122">*138 the approach of the Second Circuit in
We now turn to the further question of how the disallowed portion is to be determined. In their preoccupation with the primary issue of deductibility, the parties have given scant attention to the proper formula to be utilized and particularly to the ramifications of the formula contained in
Petitioners first contend that the multiplicand to which the allocation fraction is applied should exclude interest expense incurred in Bradford's brokerage business for carrying the debit balances in customers' margin accounts, with a corresponding elimination of the amount of such balances from the 1973 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122">*139 denominator of the fraction. 51973 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122">*140 The parties have stipulated that Bradford determined its daily borrowings on an aggregate basis, without any specific accounting of the amount required for any particular activity of the firm, including the making of margin loans to customers. See p. 256
Petitioners next contend that the denominator of the allocation fraction should be Bradford's total assets, including the partners' contribution to capital. Respondent states that the partners' capital accounts were originally excluded from the denominator because the capital contributed by the partners could not have generated borrowing. 60 T.C. 253">*261 However, he recognizes that since the issuance of the statutory notice in this case,
Respondent's only reasons for denying to petitioners the benefit1973 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122">*141 of the larger denominator specified in
Drennen, J., dissenting: I agree with Judge Dawson's dissent on the merits of the issue involved. I would like to state an additional reason why I think the action of the majority is wrong.
The question of whether this Court should follow a reversal by a Court of Appeals was carefully considered in the opinion of this Court in
Clearly, it [the Tax Court] must thoroughly reconsider the problem in the light of the reasoning of the reversing appellate court and, if convinced thereby, the obvious procedure is to follow the higher court. But if still of the opinion that its original result was right, a court of national jurisdiction to avoid confusion should follow its own honest beliefs until the Supreme Court decides the point. * * * [Fn. omitted.]
While the procedure set forth in the
it is our best judgment that better judicial1973 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122">*144 administration requires us to follow a Court of Appeals decision which is squarely in point where appeal from our decision lies to that Court of Appeals and to that court alone. [Fns. omitted.]
In explaining our reasons for modifying the procedure, we stated:
we think that where the Court of Appeals to which appeal lies has already passed upon the issue before us, efficient and harmonious judicial administration calls for us to follow the decision of that court. Moreover, the practice we are adopting does not jeopardize the Federal interest in uniform application of the internal revenue laws which we emphasized in
Five years ago in
Dawson,
In my opinion the approach taken in the majority opinion is not quite as mechanical as that which the Court refused to apply in
I think that where petitioners find themselves in the same position as Leslie and Bradford we should give considerable weight to the following factors: That the amounts borrowed were dictated by the amounts needed to carry on the brokerage business; that they did not borrow more so as to purchase or carry tax-exempts; that they did not consider that they would have to borrow less if they sold their tax-exempts; that there was no real relationship between the amounts borrowed and the amount of tax-exempts purchased; that they purchased tax-exempts only as items for resale to their customers; that they dealt in tax-exempts only to a small extent, and then only to complete the selection of securities sold by them and thus to foster all types of sales; 60 T.C. 253">*264 and that, in one sense, they lost money in financing their dealing in tax-exempts since their1973 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 122">*148 "disallowable" interest expense exceeded the amount of tax-exempt interest income earned. These indicate to me that the true purpose of the disputed portion of total borrowing was to conduct a brokerage business in a usual, profitable manner.
While the majority's approach is tidy, it unfortunately runs counter to the approach of Congress. In this respect I need only reiterate what we said in the not-too-distant past:
The legislative history makes clear that
The "connection" we spoke of in the
In my judgment the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit was incorrect in reasoning that the partnership of which Leslie was a member borrowed to accommodate all the needs of its business, including the intended purchases of tax-exempt securities, and thus passed the purpose test. The petitioner in this case borrowed ultimately for one purpose, i.e., to enable J. C. Bradford & Co. to carry on the brokerage business and thus to earn commissions. That is actually what happened, whether courts talk in terms of "purpose," "allocation," "ultimate purpose," "dominant purpose," or "primary purpose."
1.
No deduction shall be allowed for --
* * * *
(2) Interest. -- Interest on indebtedness incurred or continued to purchase or carry obligations * * * the interest on which is wholly exempt from the taxes imposed by this subtitle. * * *↩
2. Facts relating to the computation of the disallowance are discussed below.↩
3. See
4. Petitioners have not argued that any difference in treatment between banks and brokerage firms under
5. Cf. respondent's position published in
6. Such amounts are $ 316,089 for 1964, $ 393,442 in 1965, and $ 479,688 in 1966, based on the average cost of borrowing money for the respective years.↩