Bankers Club of America v. United States, 48513.
| Decision Date | 05 December 1949 |
| Docket Number | No. 48513.,48513. |
| Citation | 87 F. Supp. 253,115 Ct. Cl. 50 |
| Parties | BANKERS CLUB OF AMERICA, Inc. v. UNITED STATES. |
| Court | U.S. Claims Court |
Norman S. Rein, New York City, for plaintiff. Maurice Mound and Rein, Mound & Cotton, New York City, were on the brief.
Joseph H. Sheppard, Washington, D. C., with whom was Asst. Atty. Gen. Theron Lamar Caudle, for the defendant. Andrew D. Sharpe and Ellis N. Slack, Washington, D. C., were on the brief.
Before JONES, Chief Judge, and WHITAKER, MADDEN, LITTLETON and HOWELL, Judges.
Plaintiff sues to recover taxes paid on members' dues and initiation fees, which taxes were levied on the theory that plaintiff was a social club. Whether or not it is in fact a social club is the issue presented. Plaintiff alleges that it is not a social club, but a luncheon club.
In Bankers Club of America v. United States, 37 F.2d 982, 69 Ct.Cl. 121, we held that plaintiff was not a social club.
Subsequently, however, plaintiff has added to its facilities a bar which opens at 8:00 a. m. and remains open until 5:00 p. m. The revenue from this bar for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1946, was $118,578.89, as contrasted with the revenue from the dining room of $458,537.66. In addition, plaintiff maintains a ladies' dining room, with adjacent toilet facilities and lobby, where ladies can go unaccompanied by a member and where they may bring guests. The club also maintains a barber shop and a manicurist. The principal activities of the club are at the noon hour, as is the case with practically all downtown clubs, but members may obtain breakfast at the club if they desire.
Membership in the club is not restricted to any particular business. Out of a membership of 1,601 resident members, 383 are bankers and investment brokers, 296 stock and bond brokers, 153 are persons who are engaged in the insurance business, 265 industrialists, 219 lawyers, 115 manufacturers, and 170 people engaged in various sorts of businesses.
Although no games of any kind are permitted on the club premises, and although there is no radio, piano, or other musical instrument, still, a club whose bar stays open from 8 o'clock in the morning until 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and which maintains a ladies dining room where they can go unaccompanied by a member and may have guests, can hardly be said to be merely a luncheon club where social activities are purely incidental.
Indeed, we see no substantial distinction between the relevant facts in this case and in the case of Uptown Club of...
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