Dalton v. Bowers
| Decision Date | 12 December 1932 |
| Docket Number | No. 52,52 |
| Citation | 77 L.Ed. 389,287 U.S. 404,53 S.Ct. 205 |
| Parties | DALTON et al. v. BOWERS |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Mr. Arnold Lichtig, of New York City, for petitioner.
The Attorney General and Mr. G. A. Youngquist, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondent.
For twenty-five years petitioner Dalton has busied himself with physical research and invention; he has devised and patented hundreds of articles. A large income from sundry sources has enabled him to lay out considerable sums in connection with his inventions; the inventions brought in no net profit after 1914. During the five years following 1912 he caused the organization of six separate corporations and transferred to each certain patents for exploitation. The last of these—the Dalton Manufacturing Corporation—was incorporated under the laws of New York in 1917; he paid for all the capital stock—$395,000; became a director, president, treasurer, and controlled its affairs. No other person was financially interested. He testified that his primary purpose in this venture was to perfect his sundry models and patented articles and sell the corporate shares profitably; he thought it would be better to market such articles through the corporation, to have the business in corporate form; he considered the corporation as a branch or part of his own business as an inventor and dealer in patents, etc.—as a means to an end, an instrumentality of his purpose. Also that he believed it essential thus to have his inventions manufactured and brought before the public; the corporations were used in order to develop and improve his inventions.
The manufacturing corporation promptly took over certain Dalton patents, manufactured the articles, and sought to sell them. The petitioner endeavored to sell the corporate shares and thereby to obtain gain. From time to time he advanced large sums to pay debts and carry on the corporate business. These loans appeared on the books, but were not repaid. For six years credits were placed to his salary account; he withdrew nothing. In 1924 the corporation became hopelessly insolvent, and during 1925 passed out of existence. The evidence indicates losses during several preceding years. All creditors were paid by petitioner.
The corporation and Dalton made separate returns for federal income taxes. In 1923 and 1924 he claimed large deductions $157,035.50 and $162,309.24—on account of bad debts due from it.
In their joint income return for 1925 Dalton and his wife claimed a deduction of $395,000—the full amount paid for the then worthless shares of the manufacturing corporation. The Commissioner ruled that this loss occurred in 1924. Adjustments for that year showed $374,000 net loss by the Daltons. The Commissioner refused to apply this upon their 1925 return because not attributable to the operation of a trade or business regularly carried on by the taxpayer. If so applied, there would have been no taxable income for that year. Payment of $56,841.32 was demanded and made under protest. This suit to recover followed.
Petitioners maintain that the $395,000 loss, adjudged by the collector to have occurred in 1924, was sustained in a trade or business regularly carried on by Mr. Dalton; consequently, the net loss for that year—$374,078.98—should have been deducted from the 1925 income under terms of the Revenue Act of 1924, § 206(a) and (b), 26 USCA § 937(a, b) and note, and Treasury Regulations 65, art. 1621. The District Court accepted their view; the Circuit Court of Appeals held otherwise.
The latter court said:
'There is no justification for saying that the business of the corporation was that of the appellee. During the period the appellee dealt with the corporation as an entity. When he paid the debts of the corporation, he drew on his personal account in favor of the corporation's account, and this made the corporation his debtor. Separate tax returns were filed by the corporation and by the appellee. He purchased the capital stock with the intention of disposing of it to the public. His individual time was spent in large part in matters of invention. * * * The loss now sought to be deducted was an investment which he made in the corporation and did not occur in the operation of the trade or business regularly carried on by the appellee. * * * 'By the statute, allowing the deductions and carrying over the loss for two years, Congress intended to give relief to persons engaged in an established business for losses incurred during a year of depression in order to equalize taxation in the two succeeding and more profitable years. It was not intended to apply to occasional or isolated...
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