1976 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 13">*13
Petitioners exchanged their stock in Q and D for voting stock of W pursuant to written agreements in a tax-free reorganization under
67 T.C. 379">*380 OPINION
The Commissioner determined the following deficiencies in petitioners' Federal income taxes for the taxable year 1971:
Docket No. | Petitioners | Deficiency |
1281-74 | Sidney R. and Beatrice Solomon | $ 46,492.42 |
1305-74 | Samuel and Doris Katkin | 15,254.17 |
The cases were consolidated for purposes of trial, briefing, and opinion. Concessions having been made, the sole issue for decision is whether shares received more than 3 years after the initial exchange in a nontaxable corporate reorganization pursuant to
The consolidated cases were submitted under
Petitioners Sidney R. and Beatrice Solomon, husband and wife, resided in New York City, N.Y., at the time they filed their petition in this proceeding. They filed a joint Federal income tax return for the taxable year 1971 with the Internal Revenue Service Center, Covington, Ky.
Petitioners Samuel and Doris Katkin, husband and wife, resided in Farmington, Mich., at the time they filed their petition. They also filed a joint Federal income tax return for the taxable year 1971 with the Internal Revenue Service Center, Covington, Ky.
Prior to August 19, 1968, Mr. and Mrs. Solomon and Mr. and Mrs. Katkin were owners of all the outstanding capital stock of Quinn Manufacturing Co. (hereinafter Quinn), a Michigan corporation, having its principal place of business in Allen Park, Mich. Each petitioner owned 25 shares of the capital stock of Quinn. Quinn owned 300 shares of the 67 T.C. 379">*381 outstanding capital stock of Detroit Bolt & Nut Co. (hereinafter Detroit), a Michigan corporation having its principal office in Allen Park, Mich. The remainder of the outstanding capital stock of1976 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 13">*18 Detroit was owned by petitioners in the following amounts:
Number | |
Owner | of shares |
Sidney R. Solomon | 1,391.5 |
Beatrice Solomon | 931.5 |
Samuel Katkin | 1,522.0 |
Doris Katkin | 783.0 |
On August 19, 1968, Sidney and Beatrice Solomon entered into an acquisition agreement and plan of reorganization with Whittaker Corp. (hereinafter Whittaker), a California corporation having its principal office in Los Angeles, Calif. The agreement provided for the acquisition of all of the stock of Quinn and Detroit owned by Mr. and Mrs. Solomon in exchange for voting stock of Whittaker. In consideration for the transfer of his shares in Quinn and Detroit, Sidney Solomon was to receive 6,037 shares of Whittaker's $ 5 par value preferred stock and such number of its shares of common stock as had an aggregate fair market value of $ 1,373,387, but not in excess of 22,890 shares. In exchange for the transfer of her shares in the two corporations, Beatrice Solomon was to receive 3,963 shares of Whittaker's $ 5 par value preferred stock and such number of shares of its common stock as had a fair market value of $ 901,613, but not in excess of 15,027 shares. On August 19, 1968, Mr. and Mrs. Solomon1976 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 13">*19 received the designated number of preferred shares and the maximum number of common shares that could initially be received under the agreement. The shares of stock received were subject to substantial restrictions on transferability. In addition, because of the difficulty in valuing the shares exchanged and as further consideration to petitioners, the agreement provided for the issuance of additional shares if the value of the common stock received and still retained by petitioners on August 19, 1971, was less than 120 percent of its value on August 19, 1968, or if the value of the preferred shares received was less than $ 100 per share. The agreement further provided that the maximum number of shares which might be issued be placed in a reserve account to be established by Whittaker for possible future delivery. The 67 T.C. 379">*382 agreement did not provide for the payment of interest on such additional shares. On September 27, 1971, pursuant to its obligations under the agreement, Whittaker issued 29,797 additional shares of its common stock to Sidney Solomon and 19,561 shares to Beatrice Solomon. The shares were registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and had 1976 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 13">*20 a value of $ 10.125 per share.
On August 19, 1968, Samuel and Doris Katkin also entered into an acquisition agreement and plan of reorganization with Whittaker providing for the exchange of all of their stock in Quinn and Detroit for voting stock of Whittaker. Under the terms of the agreement, Samuel Katkin was to receive such number of shares of common stock of Whittaker as had a fair market value of $ 1,039,977, up to a maximum of 17,333 shares; Doris Katkin was to receive such number of shares of common stock as had a fair market value of $ 535,023, but not in excess of 8,917 shares. On August 19, 1968, both petitioners received the maximum number of shares which could be initially received under the agreement. The shares, like those issued to Mr. and Mrs. Solomon, were subject to substantial restrictions on transferability. The agreement also provided for the issuance of additional shares if the value of the shares retained by petitioners on August 19, 1971, was less than 120 percent of their value on August 19, 1968. The maximum number of shares which might be issued was to be placed in a special reserve account. No provision was made for the payment of interest on the additional1976 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 13">*21 shares. On September 27, 1971, Whittaker issued 15,671 additional shares to Samuel Katkin and 8,066 additional shares to Doris Katkin. The shares were registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and had a value of $ 10.125 per share.
The exchanges of stock between petitioners and Whittaker qualified as a tax-free reorganization under
1976 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 13">*22 67 T.C. 379">*383 The Commissioner, in his statutory notices of deficiency, determined that petitioners received interest income pursuant to
1976 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 13">*23 67 T.C. 379">*385 Petitioners do not contend that the shares transferred in 1971 are not payments for their stock, but they, instead, contend that the shares transferred to them are not "payments" within the meaning of
Petitioners first maintain that
(c) Payments to Which Section Applies. -- (1) In general. --
In the alternative, petitioners contend that the application of
1976 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 13">*27 Petitioners' final contention is that the "reserve stock accounts" which Whittaker was required to establish pursuant to the terms of the reorganization agreements are sufficiently analogous to the escrow arrangement described in
1976 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 13">*29 Accordingly, based on the foregoing, we hold that the contingent payments of Whittaker stock received by petitioners in 1971 are subject to the imputed interest provisions of
1. All section references are to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, unless otherwise noted.↩
2.
(a) General Rule. -- (1) In general. -- No gain or loss shall be recognized if stock or securities in a corporation a party to a reorganization are, in pursuance of the plan of reorganization, exchanged solely for stock or securities in such corporation or in another corporation a party to the reorganization.↩
3.
(a) Reorganization. -- (1) In general. -- For purposes of parts I and II and this part, the term "reorganization" means -- * * * (B) the acquisition by one corporation, in exchange solely for all or a part of its voting stock (or in exchange solely for all or a part of the voting stock of a corporation which is in control of the acquiring corporation), of stock of another corporation if, immediately after the acquisition, the acquiring corporation has control of such other corporation (whether or not such acquiring corporation had control immediately before the acquisition);↩
4.
(a) Amount Constituting Interest. -- For purposes of this title, in the case of any contract for the sale or exchange of property there shall be treated as interest that part of a payment to which this section applies which bears the same ratio to the amount of such payment as the total unstated interest under such contract bears to the total of the payments to which this section applies which are due under such contract.
(b) Total Unstated Interest. -- For purposes of this section, the term "total unstated interest" means, with respect to a contract for the sale or exchange of property, an amount equal to the excess of -- (1) the sum of the payments to which this section applies which are due under the contract, over (2) the sum of the present values of such payments and the present values of any interest payments due under the contract.
(c) Payments to Which Section Applies. -- (1) In general. -- Except as provided in subsection (f), this section shall apply to any payment on account of the sale or exchange of property which constitutes part or all of the sales price and which is due more than 6 months after the date of such sale or exchange under a contract -- (A) under which some or all of the payments are due more than one year after the date of such sale or exchange, and (B) under which, using a rate provided by regulations prescribed by the Secretary or his delegate for purposes of this subparagraph, there is total unstated interest. Any rate prescribed for determining whether there is total unstated interest for purposes of subparagraph (B) shall be at least one percentage point lower than the rate prescribed for purposes of subsection (b)(2). (2) Treatment of evidence of indebtedness. -- For purposes of this section, an evidence of indebtedness of the purchaser given in consideration for the sale or exchange of property shall not be considered a payment, and any payment due under such evidence of indebtedness shall be treated as due under the contract for the sale or exchange.
(d) Payments That Are Indefinite as to Time, Liability or Amount. -- In the case of a contract for the sale or exchange of property under which the liability for, or the amount or due date of, any portion of a payment cannot be determined at the time of the sale or exchange, this section shall be separately applied to such portion as if it (and any amount of interest attributable to such portion) were the only payments due under the contract; and such determinations of liability, amount, and due date shall be made at the time payment of such portion is made.
(e) Change in Terms of Contract. -- If the liability for, or the amount or due date of, any payment (including interest) under a contract for the sale or exchange of property is changed, the "total unstated interest" under the contract shall be recomputed and allocated (with adjustment for prior interest (including unstated interest) payments) under regulations prescribed by the Secretary or his delegate.
(f) Exceptions and Limitations. -- (1) Sales price of $ 3,000 or less. -- This section shall not apply to any payment on account of the sale or exchange of property if it can be determined at the time of such sale or exchange that the sales price cannot exceed $ 3,000. (2) Carrying charges. -- In the case of the purchaser, the tax treatment of amounts paid on account of the sale or exchange of property shall be made without regard to this section if any such amounts are treated under section 163(b) as if they included interest. (3) Treatment of seller. -- In the case of the seller, the tax treatment of any amounts received on account of the sale or exchange of property shall be made without regard to this section if no part of any gain on such sale or exchange would be considered as gain from the sale or exchange of a capital asset or property described in section 1231. (4) Sales or exchanges of patents. -- This section shall not apply to any payments made pursuant to a transfer described in section 1235(a)(relating to sale or exchange of patents). (5) Annuities. -- This section shall not apply to any amount the liability for which depends in whole or in part on the life expectancy of one or more individuals and which constitutes an amount received as an annuity to which section 72 applies.↩
5. H. Rept. No. 749, 88th Cong., 1st Sess. A84 (1963), provides in part as follows:
"
6. An "earn-out" provides for the issuance or delivery of additional shares of stock at designated dates after the initial exchange of stock based upon the success of the acquired corporation.↩
7. H. Rept. No. 749, 88th Cong., 1st Sess. 72 (1963); S. Rept. No. 830, 88th Cong., 2d Sess. 103 (1964).↩
8.
9. We express no opinion as to the validity or applicability of
10. A deposit with a third person not a party to the agreement is necessary for the creation of a valid escrow. 30A C.J.S., Escrows, sec. 4-7 (1965).↩