1982 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 93">*93
78 T.C. 864">*864 Respondent determined deficiencies in petitioners' Federal income tax and additions to tax in the following amounts:
Addition to tax | ||
Year | Deficiency | sec. 6653(a) 1 |
1976 | $ 364.97 | $ 18.24 |
1977 | 2,650.37 | 132.51 |
1978 | 2,948.18 | 147.41 |
1979 | 2,988.00 | 149.40 |
Due to concessions, the sole issue is whether petitioners were entitled to exclude from income amounts1982 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 93">*95 Mr. Haar received from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund.
FINDINGS OF FACT
The stipulation of facts and exhibits attached thereto are incorporated herein by reference.
Daniel S. Haar (hereinafter petitioner) and Emma F. Haar, husband and wife, resided in Kansas City, Mo., when they filed 78 T.C. 864">*865 their petition in this case. They filed joint Federal income tax returns for 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979.
Petitioner served in the U.S. Air Force from December 8, 1941, until February 6, 1946. Although he had a hearing disability caused by a war injury, his discharge was not due to the disability and he did not receive any disability compensation from the Veterans' Administration on account of the disability.
In 1950, the General Services Administration (hereinafter GSA) hired petitioner as an auditor. Petitioner continued his employment with GSA until he retired on disability on June 19, 1974.
On June 13, 1973, GSA directed petitioner to take a medical examination to determine his fitness for duty in his regular position. The medical examination, conducted on July 31, 1973, showed that petitioner was totally unable to perform his duties as a GSA auditor because of a hearing1982 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 93">*96 disability. On June 19, 1974, petitioner was retired from GSA on account of his total disability to serve as a GSA auditor because of his hearing problem.
Since his retirement, petitioner has been unable to hear normal conversations because of his hearing disability. Despite his disability, petitioner was employed as an auditor by the city of Kansas City, Mo., in 1977, 1978, and 1979.
The following annuity payments were paid to petitioner from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (hereinafter the fund) in the years 1974 through 1979:
Year | Amount |
1974 | $ 3,990.33 |
1975 | 9,770.00 |
1976 | 10,566.00 |
1977 | 11,211 |
1978 | 12,054 |
1979 | 13,158 |
On his 1974 and 1975 income tax returns, petitioner excluded from income $ 100 per week with respect to amounts paid from the fund. In 1976 through 1979, he did not report on his income tax returns any portion of the payments from the fund.
It has been stipulated that petitioner contributed a total of $ 14,985 to the fund, that he has not excluded from income the payments attributable to his contributions, and that he is entitled to recover his contributions if the payments are not otherwise excludable from income.
78 T.C. 864">*866 On 1982 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 93">*97 September 13, 1973, petitioner reopened his claim for disability compensation from the Veterans' Administration. The Veterans' Administration determined that petitioner had defective hearing of the left ear that was service connected from April 1, 1946, but that the hearing defect was not disabling to a compensable degree. Accordingly, petitioner has never received any payment from the Veterans' Administration because of his hearing disability.
OPINION
During the years in issue,
No case has previously considered whether
1982 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 93">*101 Because disability payments under the Civil Service Retirement Act are not paid for personal injuries or sickness incurred in military service, we conclude that
Nor do we find any basis for allowing the exclusion of the payments in issue under
For pre-1977 years,
We conclude that none of the disability retirement payments received by petitioner in 1976 through 1979 are excludable from income under
1. Unless otherwise indicated, all statutory references are to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as amended.↩
2. For purposes of simplifying the opinion, we refer collectively to the armed forces, the Coast and Geodetic Survey (now called the National Oceanographic and Aeronautical Administration), and the Public Health Service as the "military."↩
3. Compare this use of a formula that ignores the degree of injury with the use for military disability retirees of a formula that takes the extent of injury into account. Military disability retirement is available only if a disability was service incurred and the amount of disability pay is computed by using a formula that multiplies the monthly basic pay by either years of service or percentage of disability, whichever results in a larger amount.
4. Since we find that Civil Service disability retirement payments are not paid as compensation for injuries incurred in military service and are for that reason not excludable from income under
5. See