PARIS, Judge.
These cases have been consolidated for trial, briefing, and opinion. Respondent determined deficiencies and accuracy-related penalties under section 6662(a) in petitioners' Federal income tax for 2007 and 2008 (years at issue).
After concessions,
Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. The stipulation of facts, the first supplemental stipulation of facts, and the attached exhibits are incorporated herein by this reference. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson resided in Missouri at the time of filing their petition. Key Carpets is a Missouri corporation with its principal place of business in Missouri.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson incorporated Key Carpets in 1994 primarily to sell carpets to realtors, and they jointly owned Key Carpets for the years at issue. For the years at issue Key Carpets was a successful business with over $2 million in gross receipts each year. In 1995 Mr. Johnson incorporated another company, Clean Hands, and for the years at issue was its sole shareholder. Mr. Johnson originally incorporated Clean Hands because he intended to reserve the name for a hand washing monitoring system that Key Carpets had begun to develop. The initial hand washing monitoring system was intended to work by dispensing soap when a person activated the system using a radio frequency identification (RFID) badge. The initial hand washing monitoring system would then record the individual's name in a database for future reference. Mr. Johnson intended to sell the hand washing monitoring system to food service businesses so that employers could verify an employee's compliance with sanitation requirements.
Between 1994 and 2006 Key Carpets hired five to six employees to build the initial hand washing monitoring system. Clean Hands was not involved in developing the initial hand washing monitoring system and was inactive from 1995 to 2006.
In 2006 Clean Hands hired a computer technician as an employee to assist with the development of the hand washing monitoring system. Mr. Johnson considered hiring the computer technician as either a Key Carpets employee or as a Clean Hands employee with the intent that Key Carpets could then contract with Clean Hands to build the hand washing monitoring system. Mr. Johnson decided to hire the computer technician as a Clean Hands employee rather than as a Key Carpets employee because an employee was needed to work on the hand washing monitoring system full time.
The computer technician had a bachelor of science degree in physics, a long career as a computer programmer with several other companies, and an annual salary of over $100,000 at his previous employment. After hiring the computer technician Mr. Johnson decided that the initial hand washing monitoring system developed by Key Carpets was no longer feasible. Therefore, the computer technician began working on a new hand washing monitoring system that was voice activated. To use the new system, a user would state his or her name, the system would record the person's name in a database, and then the system would dispense soap.
In addition to assisting with the development of the hand washing monitoring system, the computer technician provided information technology (IT) services to Key Carpets. The computer technician would fix Key Carpets' computer problems and was the administrator for Key Carpets' computer network, Web site, and email system. Key Carpets had a preexisting office location that included a large carpet warehouse. Because Clean Hands had office space in the back of that building, the computer technician's physical location allowed him to work for both companies. Additionally, Mr. Johnson was concerned that his health problems could jeopardize his capacity to manage Key Carpets and Clean Hands, and he considered the computer technician's educational and professional background when he hired the computer technician to step in, if necessary, as a "stabilizing influence" for Key Carpets. However, the computer technician was not aware of this duty and in fact never assumed any managerial responsibilities for Key Carpets, never had check writing authority for Key Carpets or Clean Hands, and never had the authority to terminate employees during the years at issue.
Although Clean Hands did not require him to, the computer technician maintained a time log of his work during 2007. The log detailed his work throughout the year, including his time spent developing the hand washing monitoring system and providing IT services to Key Carpets. The log shows that the computer technician generally worked eight hours a day. The computer technician did not maintain a time log for 2008. According to his testimony the computer technician estimated "with a reasonably high degree of accuracy" that 85% to 95% of his time at Clean Hands in 2007 and 2008 was spent working on the hand washing monitoring system. Clean Hands wrote checks on its bank account to pay the computer technician a salary of $100,000 in 2007 and $90,000 in 2008. Clean Hands reported $107,777 for 2007 and $101,859 for 2008 in total salaries and wages for its only employee on its Forms 1120, U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return, for those years.
Key Carpets paid Clean Hands throughout the years at issue for purportedly developing the hand washing monitoring system and providing Key Carpets with IT services. In 2007 Clean Hands received $130,300 in checks from Key Carpets. In 2008 Clean Hands received $128,222 from Key Carpets.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson timely filed joint Federal income tax returns on Forms 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, for the years at issue. Key Carpets and Clean Hands filed their 2007 and 2008 Federal income tax returns on Forms 1120. All of the Federal income tax returns were prepared by petitioners' accountant from documents that petitioners had provided. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) subsequently selected Key Carpets' and Mr. and Mrs. Johnson's 2007 and 2008 Federal income tax returns for examination.
For 2007 Key Carpets claimed a deduction of $140,241 for "computer service and consulting" partly with respect to the amount paid to Clean Hands.
Key Carpets claimed a deduction of $102,000 for "computer service and consulting" on its 2008 Federal income tax return. The IRS disallowed the entire deduction because the computer technician did not maintain a time log. Therefore, the IRS was unable to determine the amount of the computer technician's salary expense that was allocable to IT services for 2008.
On June 11, 2012, respondent issued a notice of deficiency for 2007 and 2008 to Key Carpets that disallowed the claimed deductions for "computer service and consulting" except for $3,928 that the IRS allowed for 2007.
Generally, the Commissioner's determination set forth in a notice of deficiency is presumed correct,
Deductions are a matter of legislative grace, and the taxpayer bears the burden of proving entitlement to any deduction claimed on a return.
A taxpayer ordinarily must maintain adequate records to substantiate the amounts of income and entitlement to any deductions claimed.
The Court here decides what services the computer technician provided to Key Carpets, and we allow deductions as appropriate. The computer technician had two tasks as an employee of Clean Hands: (1) providing IT services to Key Carpets and (2) developing the voice-activated hand washing monitoring system.
Petitioners contend that Key Carpets' payments to Clean Hands for the voice-activated hand washing monitoring system are deductible because Key Carpets owned the voice-activated hand washing monitoring system and contracted with Clean Hands to build the system. Respondent contends that the expenses of developing the voice-activated hand washing monitoring system were not deductible by Key Carpets because the computer technician was hired as a Clean Hands employee and Key Carpets did not own the voice-activated hand washing monitoring system.
Mr. Johnson did not present any credible evidence that Key Carpets owned the voice-activated hand washing monitoring system. His testimony that Key Carpets owned the voice-activated hand washing monitoring system was vague, unclear, and not credible. Mr. Johnson's testimony contradicts his statements that he owned the patent on the voice-activated hand washing monitoring system. Additionally, the parties stipulated that Mr. Johnson was the sole owner of Clean Hands. Although Key Carpets had an ownership interest in the initial RFID badge-activated hand washing system, Key Carpets had no interest in the new voice-activated system that the computer technician developed as a Clean Hands employee. The Court therefore finds that Key Carpets did not own the voice-activated hand washing monitoring system.
Since Key Carpets did not own the voice-activated hand washing monitoring system, the Court must determine whether the expenses related to developing it were ordinary and necessary for Key Carpets.
Petitioners also contend that these cases are reasonable compensation cases and cite
Respondent acknowledges that the computer technician provided IT services to Key Carpets. Respondent contends that Key Carpets may deduct only the payments made for the portion of the computer technician's salary that represents his time providing those IT services. The computer technician was an employee of Clean Hands, and Clean Hands paid the computer technician's salary. The Court partially agrees with respondent in that Key Carpets is entitled to deduct the portion of the computer technician's total wage expenses that is allocable to providing IT services to Key Carpets. Therefore, the Court must determine the portion of the computer technician's time spent providing IT services to Key Carpets.
In 2007 the computer technician maintained a log of his work, and after the IRS sampled two months of the log, it allowed Key Carpets a deduction of $3,928 for IT services, which is substantially less than 5% of the computer technician's salary expense. The computer technician testified "with a reasonably high degree
The computer technician provided IT services for Key Carpets' computer network, Web site, and email as well as fixing computer problems for Key Carpets' employees. The Clean Hands office where the computer technician worked was also part of the Key Carpets office. The computer technician was therefore available to provide informal consulting and IT services to Key Carpets, an active commercial carpet business with over $2 million in gross receipts each year. The Court finds on the basis of the computer technician's credible testimony that the computer technician spent at least 15% of his time providing IT services to Key Carpets. Fifteen percent of the computer technician's time in an eight-hour day is 72 minutes, which is not an unreasonable amount of time to spend maintaining Key Carpets' email, Web site, and computer network and fixing computer problems for Key Carpets' employees. The Court is not convinced that given the size of Key Carpets its IT services could have been accomplished in 24 minutes or less, which would represent the 5% estimate. The Court therefore finds that Key Carpets is entitled to deduct 15% of the computer technician's salary expense.
In 2008 the computer technician did not maintain a time log of his work, and respondent disallowed the entire deduction. The record supports a finding that the computer technician provided similar IT services to Key Carpets in 2008 as he did in 2007. The Court therefore finds that Key Carpets is entitled to deduct 15% of the computer technician's 2008 salary expense for IT services.
Respondent urges the Court to accept his determination to limit Key Carpets' deduction to approximately 4% of the computer technician's salary on the basis of respondent's two-month sampling of the computer technician's time log. A 4% limitation would mean that the computer technician spent approximately 19 minutes per day providing IT services to Key Carpets. Moreover, from the record it appears that respondent did not credit the computer technician for all of his time spent providing IT services to Key Carpets. The computer technician's time log often included an entry in the morning of "mail, etc". Some of this time was clearly spent on matters for Key Carpets. Additionally, the computer technician frequently met with Mr. Johnson to review his work. While most of the meetings were to discuss the voice-activated hand washing monitoring system for Clean Hands, Mr. Johnson and the computer technician also discussed other matters, including IT services for Key Carpets. In short, the Court finds that petitioners presented sufficient evidence for the Court to estimate that the computer technician spent at least an hour and 12 minutes a day providing IT services to Key Carpets, and Key Carpets is entitled to a corresponding deduction of 15% of the computer technician's total salary expenses.
For a corporation, a distribution of property made to a shareholder with respect to its stock is governed by section 301(c). Sec. 301(a). Section 317 defines property as money, securities, and any other property. A taxpayer must include in gross income amounts received as dividends under section 301(c)(1).
A distribution need not be formally declared or even intended by a corporation but can be constructive.
This Court has previously held that a transfer between related corporations can result in a constructive distribution to their common shareholder when the shareholder receives a direct or tangible benefit.
Respondent contends that the Key Carpets payments that do not relate to the IT services the computer technician provided to Key Carpets are constructive distributions to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson because Mr. Johnson received a personal benefit from the payments. Petitioners contend that the payments from Key Carpets to Clean Hands are deductible as to Key Carpets and therefore there is no constructive distribution. Because the Court finds that Key Carpets is entitled to deduct only payments to Clean Hands for IT services provided to Key Carpets, the Court must determine whether the payments not related to IT services are constructive distributions to the Key Carpets shareholders, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. The central issue with respect to whether the payments are constructive distributions to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson is whether the payments were for Mr. Johnson's personal benefit as the sole shareholder of Clean Hands. The Court has found that Key Carpets had no ownership interest in the voice-activated hand washing monitoring system. Mr. Johnson owned Clean Hands for the years at issue and owned the patent on the hand washing monitoring system. As the sole owner of Clean Hands, Mr. Johnson needed funds to support Clean Hands. To support Clean Hands and the development of the hand washing monitoring system, instead of Mr. Johnson making capital contributions directly to Clean Hands he caused Key Carpets to transfer funds to Clean Hands.
Petitioners never presented evidence of a promissory note, a loan repayment schedule, or loan repayments.
Section 6662(a) and (b)(1) and (2) authorizes a 20% accuracy-related penalty on the portion of an underpayment of Federal income tax attributable to (1) negligence or disregard of rules or regulations or (2) a substantial understatement of Federal income tax. Under section 7491(c), the Commissioner bears the burden of production with regard to penalties for an individual taxpayer.
After respondent's concessions and accounting for the reduced constructive distributions due to Key Carpets' allowed deductions for IT services, the understatements of income tax are greater than $5,000, which in turn is greater than 10% of the tax required to be shown on Mr. and Mrs. Johnson's return for each of the years at issue. Thus, the understatement is substantial for purposes of the section 6662(a) accuracy-related penalty and respondent has met his burden of production in showing that Mr. and Mrs. Johnson's underpayments are due to their substantially understating their Federal income tax. Additionally, the understatements of income tax for Key Carpets are greater than 10% of the tax required to be shown on its returns for the years at issue.
Pursuant to section 6664(c)(1), no penalty shall be imposed under section 6662 with regard to any portion of an underpayment if the taxpayer can show that there was reasonable cause for such portion and that the taxpayer acted in good faith with respect to such portion. Whether a taxpayer acted with reasonable cause and in good faith is decided on a case-by-case basis, taking into account all pertinent facts and circumstances. Sec. 1.6664-4(b)(1), Income Tax Regs. Generally, the most important factor is the extent of the taxpayer's effort to assess his proper tax liability.
A penalty that is attributable to a substantial understatement of income tax under section 6662(b)(2) may be reduced if (1) the taxpayer's position is supported by substantial authority or (2) relevant facts are adequately disclosed in a statement attached to the return and the taxpayer's position has a reasonable basis. Sec. 6662(d)(2)(B).
Petitioners argue that they acted with reasonable cause and in good faith because petitioners provided all records to their accountant and had a reasonable basis for the business deductions. However, petitioners did not act in good faith, because their positions run contrary to established law. Mr. Johnson testified that he provided all records to his accountant on whom he relied to prepare his corporate and individual returns, but petitioners did not offer any evidence about whether they sought advice from their accountant about the deductions or whether the Key Carpets payments to Clean Hands constituted constructive distributions. Because petitioners' positions run contrary to established law and petitioners have not shown that they reasonably relied on their accountant to do anything more than prepare tax returns, petitioners have not met their burden of proving that they acted in good faith with reasonable cause, and the Court sustains the section 6662(a) accuracy-related penalty.
The Court has considered all of the arguments made by the parties and to the extent they are not addressed herein, they are considered unnecessary, moot, irrelevant, or without merit.