Davis v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

• Decision Date: 09 August 1950
• Docket Number: No. 4060.,4060.
• Citation: 184 F.2d 86
• Parties: DAVIS et ux. v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

184 F.2d 86 (1950)

DAVIS et ux. v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE.

No. 4060.

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

August 9, 1950.

Harold N. Rogers, Minneapolis, Minn. (P. J. Coffey, Minneapolis, Minn., on the brief), for petitioners.

L. W. Post, Washington, D. C. (Theron Lamar Caudle, Assistant Attorney General, Ellis N. Slack and S. Dee Hanson, Special Assistants to the Attorney General, on the brief), for respondent.

Before PHILLIPS, Chief Judge, and MURRAH and PICKETT, Circuit Judges.

PICKETT, Circuit Judge.

This is a petition to review a judgment of the Tax Court sustaining the action of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in assessing income tax deficiencies and 50 per centum fraud penalties for the years 1941 to 1944 inclusive. The petitioners, who filed joint income tax returns, have conceded the correctness of deficiencies and paid the same. The sole question for decision here is whether, considering the record as a whole, there is substantial evidence to sustain the fraud penalty which was assessed for each taxable year. Title 26 U.S.C.A. § 293(b) provides that if any part of a deficiency is due to fraud with intent to evade tax, then 50 per centum of the total amount of the deficiency shall be assessed. The Tax Court recognized that upon the issue of fraud, the burden was upon the Commissioner to prove the same by clear and convincing evidence. Title 26 U.S.C.A. § 1112; Mertens Law of Federal Income Taxation, Vol. 10, Sec. 55.19, page 30; Rogers v. Commissioner, 6 Cir., 111 F.2d 987; Duffin v. Lucas, 6 Cir., 55 F. 2d 786; Jemison v. Commissioner, 5 Cir., 45 F.2d 4; Griffiths v. Commissioner, 7 Cir., 50 F.2d 782.

The material facts are not in dispute. The petitioners were husband and wife, and will hereinafter be referred to as taxpayers or individually as the taxpayer and the taxpayer's wife. They resided at Casper, Wyoming, where they were engaged in the ranching business and in addition the taxpayer's wife owned and operated an orange grove in California. The source of their property was an inheritance to the taxpayer's wife in 1915. They were not highly educated people but of good sound business judgment. Neither of the taxpayers was familiar with the tax laws and regulations nor did they know how to prepare an income tax return. They had never attempted to prepare a return and since 1921 C. H. Reimerth, a reputable certified public accountant, had been employed to prepare their returns and they relied entirely upon him to correctly prepare the same and to compute the correct tax. They furnished him with all their books and records and when the returns were completed they accepted them without question. It is conceded that the taxpayers, with unimportant exceptions, furnished to the accountant full information and data as to their business and income from which a correct return could be prepared. In fact the Commissioner, in computing the deficiencies, used substantially the same data as that furnished the accountant. The reported net income and the understatement of the same for the years in question are as follows:

                  Year   Reported     Understatement
                  1941   $1,396.64      $18,323.17
                  1942     (944.49)      14,122.28
                  1943    1,667.25       12,789.13
                  1944    1,788.64       27,779.32
                

The understatements generally were the result of omitted income and unallowable deductions. During these years the taxpayers handled large sums of money, lived in a rather pretentious home in the City of Casper, part of the time their two children were attending college, and at different times the members of the family owned and operated three automobiles. During the years 1937 to 1940 inclusive, the accountant on behalf of the taxpayers made depreciation deductions which were disallowed. Upon advice of the accountant the tax was paid under protest but no action was taken to recover the amount paid. The accountant contended that the depreciation deductions were correct and continued them in the returns in question. The Tax Court relied upon these facts to sustain the charge of fraud. The Commissioner here argues in effect that the reported income shown by the returns was so small as compared with the actual income and certain deductions were so flagrant that the taxpayers must have known that their returns were understated and because of this knowledge there was an intent on their part to evade taxes. With this we cannot agree. The ranches of the taxpayers were operated by borrowing large sums of money. When sales were made the proceeds went to the bank and credit was usually given on existing notes. Much of their enlarged net worth for the years in question was due to increased livestock inventories. In preparing the returns, intricate and complicated questions of allowable depreciation arose as to the ranch and orange grove operations of which the taxpayers had no knowledge and of necessity relied upon expert advice and we believe they had a right to do so. The Tax Court took the position that the taxpayers "cannot shift the personal responsibility of making a correct tax return to others. That responsibility must be borne by the petitioners themselves. The returns were theirs."...