1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 45">*45
Petitioner, an exempt organization under
87 T.C. 747">*747 Respondent determined deficiencies in petitioner's income tax as follows: 87 T.C. 747">*748
Year ended Sept. 30 -- | Deficiency |
1976 | $ 65,769.80 |
1977 | 83,174.05 |
1978 | 42,677.52 |
1979 | 47,620.63 |
1980 | 94,353.90 |
1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 45">*49 The issue for decision is whether the receipts of petitioner generated by certain listings in The Trooper magazine constitute income derived from an unrelated trade or business under
FINDINGS OF FACT
Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. The stipulation of facts and the exhibits attached thereto are incorporated herein by reference.
Petitioner the Fraternal Order of Police, Illinois State Troopers Lodge Number 41 (FOP), is a not-for-profit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Illinois and had its principal place of business in Springfield at the time it filed its petition. Petitioner is an exempt 1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 45">*50 organization under
In August 1975, FOP formed the Troopers Alliance (Alliance). Alliance had basically the same membership as FOP and was formed to carry out the specific goal of providing money for hospitalization and dental programs for members and their families.
In September 1975, Alliance entered into a solicitation and publishing agreement (agreement I) with Organization Services Corp. (OSC) for the publication of a magazine known as The Trooper. Under agreement I, Alliance was to 87 T.C. 747">*749 receive 20 percent of the "gross advertising revenue actually collected" by OSC. Agreement I referred to parties solicited to place "listings" in the magazine as "advertisers" and to "listings" as "advertising." The solicitation program was referred to as the "ad solicitation program," the "advertising marketing program," and the "marketing of advertising." Agreement I also provided that 1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 45">*51 OSC was to determine the "advertising rates * * * for local and national advertisers" and referred to the receipts to be derived from the contracts as "advertising revenue."
On December 20, 1975, Alliance assigned all of its right, title, and interest in agreement I to petitioner. On December 23, 1975, petitioner and OSC canceled agreement I and entered into a second solicitation and publishing agreement (agreement II). Agreement II was identical in all material respects to agreement I, except that under the new agreement petitioner was given greater control over the bank account into which the revenues were to be deposited. Petitioner's executive committee was then informed that Alliance had been disbanded and that its "ad solicitation program" would thereafter be conducted by petitioner. The committee was also advised that future proceeds from the program would be used to provide death benefits, legal assistance, scholarships, hardship assistance, and possibly dental insurance for FOP members and their families.
On December 24, 1978, petitioner and OSC entered into another publishing agreement (agreement III). Agreement III provided that OSC was to publish each issue of The 1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 45">*52 Trooper within 10 weeks after having collected $ 150,000 in "advertising revenue." Agreement III also increased FOP's share of "gross advertising revenue actually collected" from 20 percent to 23 percent.
The Trooper is comparable in quality to most nationally published commercial magazines, and in content, is almost identical to Law and Order, an independent magazine published for policemen. Its editorials and articles are of particular interest to police officers and cover a wide range of professional, commercial, consumer, and leisure topics. The Trooper's circulation during the years in issue was approximately 2,000. Copies were distributed to FOP members and associate members, businesses and individuals 87 T.C. 747">*750 having listings in The Trooper, Illinois legislators and other public officials, as well as other persons designated by petitioner from time to time. One of petitioner's officers served as executive editor of the magazine and petitioner had the right to censor text, editorials, and business listings, as well as to control any reprints.
The business listings in The Trooper were of two types, both of which covered a wide range of professional, commercial, consumer, 1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 45">*53 and leisure goods or services. The first type of listing was the business directory which classified and arranged the listers in the same manner as the "yellow pages" of a telephone directory. The business directory was preceded by this statement:
ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES, listed by category of service or product, are advertisers who support The Trooper magazine. Consider these fine companies when making purchases for yourself or your family.
The second type of listings were referred to as "large listings" and included such well-known companies or products as American Airlines, Michelob Beer, and Johnny Carson Clothes, as well as Midas Mufflers and Ryder Trucks. The Trooper had an "Advertisers' Index" which contained the name of the sponsor of each large listing and the page upon which its listing was located. Large listings contained the usual elements associated with advertisements such as blocking, illustrations, signatures, trademarks, and emblems. Many of the large listings contained well-known slogans used by the sponsors in their national advertising.
OSC employed an independent contractor to solicit listings for individuals and corporations. The contractor or one of his1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 45">*54 employees would contact a potential lister and, after a brief introduction, would inform the potential lister that FOP was putting together the next issue of The Trooper, the proceeds from which would be added to FOP's death fund and used to aid the families of policemen and troopers killed or injured in the line of duty. The potential lister would then be asked to sponsor a "nice listing" in the magazine. All solicitations were monitored by FOP members.
The rates for listings during the years in issue were as follows: 87 T.C. 747">*751
Large listings: | Business directory listings: | ||
Size | Cost | Size | Cost |
Two pages | $ 1,200 | 2 column inches | $ 100 |
Full page | 665 | 1 column inch | 75 |
2/3 page | 525 | 3/4 column inch | 50 |
1/2 page | 415 | 4 lines | 35 |
1/3 page | 345 | 2 lines | 25-30 |
1/4 page | 285 | 1 line | 15-20 |
1/6 page | 195 |
Each sponsor of a listing in The Trooper received an acknowledgement form which read in part, as follows:
THE TROOPER OFFICAL PUBLICATION OF | |||||
TROOPERS LODGE #41 | |||||
BILLING INFORMATION | ADVERTISER INFORMATION | ||||
cost | |||||
name of advertising co. | date | ||||
total | |||||
street | town county | zip | |||
tel no. | nature of business | ||||
method payment | AD INFORMATION | ||||
check | cash | ||||
size of ad | comment | ||||
issue |
1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 45">*55 Businesses listing in The Trooper frequently noted on their checks that the payments were for "advertising." The bank account for the "advertising marketing program" was in petitioner's name and was controlled by petitioner.
The number of issues of The Trooper published during the years under consideration were as follows:
Year ended Sept. 30 -- | Number of issues |
1976 | 3 |
1977 | 8 |
1978 | 4 |
1979 | 5 |
1980 | 7 |
Petitioner received the following amounts from OSC for business listings during the years at issue: 87 T.C. 747">*752
Year ended Sept. 30 -- | Amounts |
1976 | $ 864,806.00 |
1977 | 1,035,264.00 |
1978 | 890,973.00 |
1979 | 765,448.50 |
1980 | 1,068,614.57 |
Total | 4,625,106.07 |
In its unrelated business taxable income for the taxable years ended September 30, 1976, through September 30, 1979, petitioner included as "gross advertising income" receipts from the large listings but not the receipts from the business directory. For the taxable year ended September 30, 1980, none of the listing receipts were included in unrelated business taxable income.
In his notice of deficiency, respondent determined that all of petitioner's receipts from the listings constituted unrelated business1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 45">*56 taxable income.
OPINION
1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 45">*59 Respondent determined that petitioner's publication of The Trooper constituted an unrelated trade or business within the meaning of
As to the first ground, petitioner concedes that the publication of the paid business listings is regularly carried on and is not substantially related to its exempt purposes. However, petitioner argues that the receipts from the listings are not taxable because: (1) The listings are not advertising; and (2) their publication did not constitute a "trade or business" under
We note that neither the Code nor respondent's regulations define the term "advertising" or "advertisement." 1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 45">*60 However, after carefully examining the record and copies of The Trooper we are convinced that both the larger listings and the business listings constitute "advertising." To conclude otherwise we would have to ignore the fact that the vast majority of the listings in The Trooper are composed of slogans, logos, trademarks, and other information which is similar, if not identical in content, composition, and message to the listings found in other professional journals, newspapers, and the "yellow pages" of telephone directories. We also note that the contracts with OSC, FOP's business forms, and the magazine itself repeatedly use such words and phrases as "advertising revenues," "advertisers," "prospective advertisers," "advertising marketing program," and "advertising," to describe the listings and related activities.
With regard to petitioner's argument that the publication of advertising in The Trooper is not a trade or business we note that on December 12, 1967, the Treasury Department 87 T.C. 747">*755 promulgated regulations under
* * * *
Under this provision, it is anticipated that advertising income from publications (whether or not the publications are related to the exempt purpose of the organization) will constitute unrelated business income to the extent it exceeds the expenses related to the advertising, and, if the editorial aspects of publication are carried on at a loss, to the extent it exceeds this loss.
[H. Rept. 91-413 (1969),
87 T.C. 747">*756 In the1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 45">*62 Senate committee report, the following comments appear:
1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 45">*63 Recently the Supreme Court had occasion to consider
Another factor which supports a finding that petitioner's listings constituted a trade or business is the fact that FOP's arrangements with OSC were obviously conducted with a profit motive and, in fact, were very profitable. The profit is not surprising since under the arrangement, FOP's share of the receipts was based upon gross revenue with no risk or expense involved.
Petitioner would have us discount its profit motive and focus instead upon whether its listing activities constituted unfair competition with others in the advertising field. In so arguing, petitioner asserts that under our rule in
From all of the above, the conclusion is inescapable that petitioner's1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 45">*65 listing activities constituted advertising and as such amounted to a trade or business. Since petitioner has conceded that such activities were regularly carried on and were not substantially related to its exempt purposes, the receipts from such activities are "unrelated business taxable income."
Petitioner further contends, however, that even if its listing receipts constitute "unrelated business taxable income" under
Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the term "unrelated business taxable income" means the gross income derived by any organization from any unrelated trade or business (as defined in
Insofar as applicable here,
Generally, a royalty is a payment for the use of a right such as a trademark, trade name, service mark, or copyright, whether or not the property represented by the right is used. See, e.g.,
87 T.C. 747">*758 are those which constitute passive income, such as the compensation paid by a licensee to the licenser for the use of the licenser's patented invention, * * * or the share of production reserved to the owner of property for permitting another to work mines and quarries or drill for oil or gas * * * [
See also
Whether an item of income falls within one of the modifications provided in
On this issue, petitioner contends that it sold to OSC the right to exploit petitioner's name in return for a percentage of the gross advertising revenues and consequently the listing receipts were in actuality royalty payments. On the other hand, respondent contends that the receipts cannot be considered royalties because petitioner's role in the publication of The Trooper was not passive. We agree with respondent because under the various agreements with OSC petitioner had final authority over the content of any issue of the The Trooper and had the right to provide its executive editor, to select the subject of and prepare its editorials and1986 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 45">*68 feature articles, to oversee and monitor the solicitor's activities in the advertising program, to control the program's bank account, and to control the reprint of any material published in The Trooper.
We conclude, therefore, that petitioner's role was not passive, the receipts from the listings did not constitute royalties, and such receipts are not excluded under
1. All section references are to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as amended, and in effect during the years in issue unless otherwise indicated. All Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure unless otherwise indicated.↩
2.
(a) Charitable, Etc., Organizations Taxable at Corporation Rates. -- (1) Imposition of tax. -- There is hereby imposed for each taxable year on the unrelated business taxable income (as defined in (2) Organizations subject to tax. -- (A) Organizations described in sections 401(a) and 501(c). -- The tax imposed by paragraph (2) shall apply in the case of any organization (other than a trust described in subsection (b) or an organization described in section (c)(1)) which is exempt, except as provided in this part of part II (relating to private foundations), from taxation under this subtitle by reason of
3. Prior to 1950, a tax-exempt organization's income was not taxable if it was used to further the organization's tax-exempt purposes, regardless of the income's source. See
4. As it relates to this case, the pertinent provisions of
(a) General Rule. -- The term "unrelated trade or business" means in the case of any organization subject to the tax imposed by (1) in which substantially all the work in carrying on such trade or business is performed for the organization without compensation, or (2) which is carried on, in the case of an organization described in (3) which is the selling of merchandise, substantially all of which has been received by the organization as gifts or contributions.
* * * *
(c) Advertising, Etc., Activities. -- For purposes of this section, the term "trade or business" includes any activity which is carried on for the production of income from the sale of goods or the performance of services. For purposes of the preceding sentence, an activity does not lose identity as a trade or business merely because it is carried on within a larger aggregate of similar activities or within a larger complex of other endeavors which may, or may not, be related to the exempt purposes of the organization. Where an activity carried on for profit constitutes an unrelated trade or business, no part of such trade or business shall be excluded from such classification merely because it does not result in profit.↩
5. The regulations promulgated under
(b)