Decision will be entered for respondent.
RUWE,
Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. The stipulation of facts and the attached exhibits are incorporated herein by this reference.
At the time the petition was filed, petitioners resided in Pennsylvania.
Michael H. Dudek (petitioner) 2013 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 284">*285 is a certified public accountant licensed in Pennsylvania and an attorney licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania.
On January 24, 1996, petitioners purchased 100 acres in Pennsylvania for $47,000. This property was subject to an oil and gas lease with the Ohio Lease Development Co. which expired on or about March 14, 2002. On January 24, 1996, petitioners purchased 201.5 acres in Pennsylvania for $148,000. This property was also subject to an oil and gas lease with the Ohio Lease Development Co. which expired on or about March 14, 2002. On May 27, 1998, petitioners *274 purchased 51.8 acres in Pennsylvania for $30,000. In total, petitioners own approximately 353.3 acres in Pennsylvania.
On October 23, 2008, petitioners entered into an oil and gas lease agreement (Agreement) with EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG), in connection with petitioners' 353.3 acres in Pennsylvania (property). Under the terms of the Agreement, EOG can develop the property and drill for, extract, and sell any gas and oil discovered on the property. EOG bears the entire cost of exploration, development, and operation of the property with respect to the production of oil and gas. Under the terms of the Agreement, petitioners 2013 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 284">*286 are entitled to a royalty payment equal to 16% of the net profits of any oil and gas extracted from the property.
The primary term of the Agreement is five years. The term of the Agreement is automatically extended as long thereafter as either oil or gas is being produced from the property. The term of the Agreement will also be extended if EOG shuts in 2 any of the wells. If any well is shut in, EOG must pay petitioners $1 per acre per year. Paragraph 17 of the Agreement provides that the term may be extended for an additional five years. To exercise the option for the five-year *275 extension, EOG would be required to pay petitioners an extension payment of $2,500 per acre covered by the extended term.
In 2008 T.S. Calkins & Associates (Calkins), on behalf of EOG, tendered to petitioners a payment of $883,250 to induce them to enter into the Agreement. The payment was not dependent on any extraction or production of oil or gas. Calkins transmitted a Form 1099-MISC, 2013 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 284">*287 Miscellaneous Income, to respondent, which reported that Calkins had paid petitioners $883,250 in 2008. Petitioners reported the $883,250 payment as a long-term capital gain on their 2008 Federal income tax return.
On January 17, 2012, respondent issued to petitioners a notice of deficiency for 2008. Petitioners timely filed a petition disputing the determinations in the notice of deficiency.
The Commissioner's determinations in a notice of deficiency are generally presumed correct, and the taxpayer bears the burden of proving that the determinations are in error.
Petitioners argue that the $883,250 payment (hereinafter bonus payment 3) they received as an inducement to enter into the Agreement should be taxed as a long-term capital gain. Respondent argues that the bonus payment constitutes ordinary income.
The Supreme Court has held that the receipt 2013 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 284">*288 of a bonus payment by a lessor pursuant to an oil and gas lease is taxable as ordinary income, not as gain from the sale of capital assets.
To avoid ordinary income treatment for the bonus payment, petitioners argue that the Agreement was not a lease but was in substance a sale of their rights to any oil and gas on the property. We must determine if the Agreement was a lease.
"Where the owner of the land retains an economic interest in the deposits, the transaction is regarded as a lease and the proceeds are taxable as ordinary income".
Under the Agreement, petitioners are entitled to royalty payments equal to 16% of 2013 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 284">*289 the net profits of any oil or gas extracted from the property. Petitioners' royalty interest retains for them the right to share in the proceeds of any oil or gas extracted from the property.4 "The principle is well settled that the holder of a royalty interest in natural resources possesses an economic interest in the minerals in place."
Petitioners' royalty interest constitutes an economic interest because it bestows on them the right to share in the proceeds of any oil and gas extracted from the property. As a result, the transaction is regarded as a lease. Furthermore, we note that the Agreement does not reflect the economic realities of a sale. A sale would be evidenced by an exchange of a determinable quantity of oil and gas for a determinable price. The Agreement does not speak to the quantity of oil and *278 gas to be transferred to the lessee. Instead, the Agreement provides that the lessee (EOG) 2013 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 284">*290 may extract oil and gas for a period of time in exchange for royalty payments based on the oil and gas that is actually extracted during the term of the Agreement. An agreement that provides the transferor with a bonus payment and royalty payments for the minerals extracted is properly classified as a lease, not a sale.
In the petition, petitioners argue that if the Court determines the $883,250 bonus payment is taxable as ordinary income, then the Court should hold that they are entitled to a percentage depletion deduction of $132,488. Respondent argues that petitioners are not entitled to a deduction for percentage depletion or for cost depletion.
*279
Bonus payments are eligible for cost depletion.
Respondent determined that petitioners were liable for a
*281 There is a substantial understatement of income tax for any taxable year if the amount of the understatement exceeds the greater of 10% of the tax required to be shown on the return for the taxable year or $5,000.
Accordingly, we hold that petitioners are liable for the accuracy-related penalty under
In reaching our decision, we have considered all arguments made by the parties. To the extent not mentioned or addressed, they are irrelevant or without merit.
To reflect the foregoing,
1. Unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to the Internal Revenue Code in effect for the year in issue, and all Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.↩
2. A "shut-in" is the temporary closure of a producing well, for repair, cleaning out, building up reservoir pressure, or a lack of a market.
3. A bonus in the oil and gas industry is defined as a "payment that is made in addition to royalties and rent as an incentive for a lessor to sign an oil-and-gas lease". Black's Law Dictionary 206 (9th ed. 2009).↩
4. "A royalty interest is a right to receive a specified percentage of all oil and gas produced during the lease."