Lofquist Realty Co. v. Commissioner of Internal Rev., 6783.

Decision Date24 March 1939
Docket NumberNo. 6783.,6783.
Citation102 F.2d 945
PartiesLOFQUIST REALTY CO. v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Walter H. Eckert, Tom Leeming, and Tim G. Lowry, all of Chicago, Ill., for petitioner.

James W. Morris, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Sewall Key, Joseph M. Jones, and Arnold Raum, Sp. Assts. to Atty. Gen., for respondent.

Before SPARKS, MAJOR, and TREANOR, Circuit Judges.

SPARKS, Circuit Judge.

The taxpayer petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Tax Appeals disallowing its claim for refund of $433.22, the total amount of taxes paid by it for the year 1932, which disallowance was based on principles of estoppel.

Petitioner sold property on the installment basis in 1929, utilizing the installment statute, section 44 (b) and (d) of the Revenue Act of 1928, c. 852, 45 Stat. 791, 26 U.S.C.A. § 44(b) note (d).1 In the same year, it assigned the installment contract to Oscar Lofquist, its president and sole stockholder, but made no disclosure of such transfer in its 1929 return. In its 1930, 1931, and 1932 returns executed by Lofquist, as president, the petitioner represented the installment payments as its own income and paid the tax thereon. In its 1933 return it represented for the first time that the contract had been transferred. It was then too late to make the proper assessment against the petitioner for 1929, which would have exceeded the taxes actually paid. We are confronted with the question — Is the petitioner now estopped from asserting, for the purpose of obtaining a refund of the 1932 tax, that the contract was actually transferred in 1929?

The facts found by the Board were substantially as follows: The petitioner was an Iowa corporation. It was incorporated October 13, 1910, for a period of twenty years. Its purpose was to acquire a leasehold on a building in Des Moines, Iowa. This property was leased by petitioner on October 14, 1910, for a period of seventy-three years. On April 22, 1929, it entered into a contract to sell all of its right, title and interest under the lease and improvements made upon the property by it, to the DeHaan Company, effective May 1, 1929.

The book value of the leasehold interest in this property at the date of sale was $8,433.10, and the price at which it was sold to the DeHaan Company was $25,000, of which $5,000 was to be paid in cash at the time of the sale, and $4,000 annually to petitioner for the five succeeding years with interest on the unpaid balance at the rate of five per cent per annum.

All of the capital stock of petitioner was owned by Lofquist, with the exception of four qualifying shares, two of which were held by his wife and two by his sister. It kept only memorandum records, and had a stock record book but no minute book or general ledger. It employed a part-time bookkeeper who worked at irregular intervals and made up the accounts once a year for tax purposes. There were no stockholders' or directors' meetings. The capital of the corporation, approximately $12,000, was contributed by Oscar Lofquist.

On May 17, 1929, petitioner assigned its interest under the contract to Oscar Lofquist, who, on the same day assigned his interest therein to the Des Moines National Bank as security for his personal debts. On that same day the DeHaan Company acknowledged notice of both assignments and they were on that date recorded in the office of the Recorder of Polk County, Iowa. Thereafter, all payments under the contract were made by the DeHaan Company to the Des Moines National Bank, and by it applied to the personal obligations of Oscar Lofquist. Thereafter the only assets of the petitioner consisted of $104.89 cash, and loans receivable in the sum of $491.33. After the assignment the petitioner transacted only that business necessary to wind up its affairs. This was permitted to be done under section 8392 of the Iowa Code 1927.

On petitioner's income tax return for 1929, signed by Oscar Lofquist as president and duly filed on June 3, 1930, the sale of the leasehold in 1929 was reported as resulting in a profit to petitioner of $16,566.90, and inasmuch as one-fifth of the total sale price was received in that year, the corporation, on the installment basis, included one-fifth of $16,566.90 in its income. The return showed a tax of $21.87 which was paid. It also disclosed a payment of cash dividends of $5,400 during that year. A like return was filed by the petitioner for the year 1930 reporting the installment profit of $2,650.70 attributable to the $4,000 payment made by the DeHaan Company in that year, and $1,000 received as interest on the unpaid sale price. This 1930 return disclosed a tax liability of $78.08. For the year 1931 a like return was filed by petitioner showing an installment profit of $2,650.70 attributable to the annual payment of $4,000, and $750 as interest on the unpaid portion of the sale price. The amount of $30 was claimed as a deduction for local taxes. Cash dividends of $10,000 were shown as having been paid during that year. This return reflected a tax liability of $44.48. For the year 1932 a like return was made showing an installment profit of $2,650.70, and interest income of $500. This return reported dividends paid during that year of $4,630.81, and disclosed a tax liability of $433.22 which was paid. All of those returns were executed by Oscar Lofquist as president of petitioner.

For the year 1933 the petitioner filed an income tax return, by Lofquist, its president, which showed no income or deductions, but which listed in its balance sheet the sale contract as an asset in the amount of $8,000, and as its liabilities "deferred profit sale contract" in the amount of $5,301.32; common stock in the amount of $5,000; and surplus and undivided profits in the amount of $2,198.58. Under the balance sheet appeared the statement "assets transferred to individuals prior to 1933 but no record made."

On September 14, 1934, there was filed with the Collector of Internal Revenue for the District of Iowa in the name of the petitioner, a claim for tax refunds in the amount of $433.22, representing the total amount of income taxes paid by the petitioner for the year 1932. This claim, signed by Oscar Lofquist as former president of petitioner, was based on the ground that the corporate charter of the company had expired in October, 1930.

In his individual income tax return for 1929 Lofquist included as income the amount of $5,400 received as dividends from the petitioner. No dividends from the company were reported by him for 1930, but for 1931 his return disclosed $10,000 as dividends received by him from the petitioner, and in 1932 he reported like dividends from the same source of $4,630.81. His individual returns for these years reflected no tax liability.

In his tax return for 1933, Lofquist reported as "other income" the sum of $2,650.70 which he explained in an attached schedule as installment profit calculated in the same way as it appeared in...

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7 cases
  • New Capital Fire, Inc. v. Comm'r
    • United States
    • U.S. Tax Court
    • June 2, 2021
    ...does not have a duty of investigation to discover information that the taxpayer has not provided. Lofquist Realty Co. v. Commissioner, 102 F.2d 945, 949 (7th Cir. 1939) (holding that the Commissioner is not required to search public records for information that may contradict representation......
  • Becker v. Bemis
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit
    • July 24, 1939
    ...Edward G. Swartz, Inc. v. Commissioner, 5 Cir., 69 F.2d 633, 635; Haag v. Commissioner, 7 Cir., 59 F.2d 514, 515; Lofquist Realty Co. v. Commissioner, 7 Cir., 102 F.2d 945, 948; Wheelock v. Commissioner, 5 Cir., 77 F.2d 474, 477; Robinson v. Commissioner, 6 Cir., 100 F.2d 847, 849; Newaygo ......
  • Helvering v. Schine Chain Theatres
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit
    • July 21, 1941
    ...35, 37; Alamo National Bank v. Commissioner, 5 Cir., 95 F.2d 622; Robinson v. Commissioner, 6 Cir., 100 F.2d 847; Lofquist Realty Co. v. Commissioner, 7 Cir., 102 F.2d 945; Becker v. Bemis, 8 Cir., 104 F.2d 871. On the other hand we have ourselves twice refused to do so, our notion being th......
  • Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. MacDonald Eng. Co., 6655.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit
    • April 1, 1939
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