Green Spring Dairy v. Commissioner of Internal Rev.

• Decision Date: 10 November 1953
• Docket Number: No. 6561.,6561.
• Parties: GREEN SPRING DAIRY, Inc. v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

208 F.2d 471 (1953)

GREEN SPRING DAIRY, Inc. v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE.

No. 6561.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued October 9, 1953.

Decided November 10, 1953.

Hugh C. Bickford, Washington, D. C. (Morton P. Fisher, Baltimore, Md., and Henry H. Elliott, Washington, D. C., on the brief), for petitioner.

Melva M. Graney, Sp. Asst. to Atty. Gen. (H. Brian Holland, Asst. Atty. Gen., Ellis N. Slack and Lee A. Jackson, Sp. Assts. to Atty. Gen., on the brief), for respondent.

Before PARKER, Chief Judge, and SOPER and DOBIE, Circuit Judges.

SOPER, Circuit Judge.

The main question raised by this petition for review is the interpretation to be given to section 732 of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C.A., which provides that the determination by the Tax Court of tax liability under section 722 of the Code, relating to the calculation of the excess profits tax under particular circumstances, shall not be reviewed by any court or agency except the Tax Court, but that such a determination by any division of the Tax Court shall be reviewed by a special division of the Tax Court, consisting of not less than three judges thereof, whose decision shall not be reviewable by the Tax Court and shall be deemed the decision of the Tax Court.

Section 722 of the Code is designed to give relief to a taxpayer in any case in which the computation of its excess profits tax under the provisions of the statute relating thereto results in an excessive and discriminatory tax. Such a condition may arise if the average base period net income is an inadequate standard of normal earnings because the taxpayer changed the character of its business during or immediately prior to the base period. The statute provides that if the taxpayer shows that such a situation existed in his case, and further shows what would be a fair and just amount representing normal earnings during the base period, this amount shall be used as a constructive base period net income for the purpose of computing the tax. Section 732 of the Code is designed to regulate the procedure to be followed in the review of abnormalities by the Tax Court and contains the provisions with respect to the finality of the Tax Court decisions and the review thereof by a special division of the Tax Court as above set out.

Green Spring Dairy, Inc., the taxpayer, is in the business of bottling and distributing milk in Baltimore. In each of the years 1940 to 1945 it filed its federal tax returns for the period of the calendar year on the accrual basis. Subsequent to the payment of its excess profits taxes for these years it filed applications with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for excess profits tax relief under section 722. It claimed that it was entitled to relief under this section because it changed the character of its business by a substantial expansion of its capacity during or immediately prior to the base period 1936 to 1939. It alleged that it suffered losses in the years 1937 and 1938 because its overhead was too large for its volume, and that therefore a comparison of its income during this period with its income in subsequent years when its business expanded within the capacity of its new plant would result in an unfair and discriminatory excess profits tax.

The Commissioner sent the taxpayer two notices — one for the years 1940 and 1941 and one for the years 1942 to 1945, in which he determined deficiencies in the taxpayer's excess profits taxes for these years based on so-called "standard" issues which had nothing to do with abnormalities. The Commissioner also determined that the taxpayer was not entitled to relief under section 722.

The taxpayer then filed petitions with the Tax Court in respect to each notice and prayed for a redetermination of the deficiencies set forth by the Commissioner in his notices. The petition for the years 1940 and 1941 alleged that the taxes in controversy were income and excess profits taxes in the respective amounts of $3409.03 and $29,854.64. These were the amounts which the Commissioner had determined to be the taxpayer's excess profits tax liabilities for 1940 and 1941. The petition for the years 1942 to 1945 (The deficiencies determined by the Commissioner for these years were $1342.60 and $3863.98 respectively) alleged that the taxes in controversy were excess profits taxes in the amount of $58,809.58 which was the sum total of the deficiencies in this tax determined by the Commissioner for these years. Both petitions prayed the court to decide that there was no deficiency due by the taxpayer and that the taxpayer had overpaid its excess profits taxes. No error was specified other than the Commissioner's denial of relief under section 722.

The answer of the Commissioner admitted that the taxes in controversy were the excess profits taxes for the years covered by the petitions.

The two cases were consolidated for trial and at the outset of the hearing the court was informed that the issues relating to the deficiencies were not before the court. The trial was confined to the question whether the Tax Court was in error in denying the taxpayer excess profits tax relief under section 722. The Tax Court decided this issue in favor of the Commissioner. At the end of the opinion appeared the words "Reviewed by the Special Division". See 18 T.C. No. 29.

This decision was promulgated on May 9, 1952 and pursuant thereto an order was entered in each case on May 14, 1952 that the taxpayer was not entitled to relief under the provisions of section 722. These orders were deficient in that they were confined to the denial of relief under section 722. Accordingly on June 3, 1952 the Commissioner moved to modify the decisions by adding the finding that there were deficiencies in excess profits taxes owing by the taxpayer in the amounts determined by the Commissioner, and accordingly amended orders were filed on August 28, 1952 pursuant to a supplemental opinion of the Tax Court filed that day. See 18 T.C. No. 119.

During the interval between these two decisions the taxpayer on June 9, 1952 filed a motion for rehearing and a petition for review by special division in respect to the holding that the taxpayer was not entitled to relief under section 722. These motions were denied on August 21, 1952 and the order denying review by special division showed that in due course the special division of the court, regularly constituted pursuant to section 732(d) of the Internal Revenue Code, had theretofore fully reviewed and approved the determination of the division of the court that heard the case, and had found that the contention set out in the petition for review to be without merit.

The principal question for decision is the meaning to be given to those provisions of section 732 which prescribe and limit the review to which a taxpayer is entitled when he makes claim for refund of excess profits taxes under section 722 because of abnormalities and his claim is disallowed. If the Tax Court proceeding under these provisions of these sections, finds that there is no overpayment in such case, and further finds that there is a deficiency, the court has jurisdiction to determine the amount; and if in the course of its determination it decides any question solely by reason of section 722 its decision is not subject to review by any court or agency except the Tax Court itself.

There is no controversy with respect to the provisions of sections 732(a), (b) and (c). The difference arises as to the meaning of section 732(d) which requires a further review in such a case within the Tax Court itself as follows:

"(d) The determinations and redeterminations by any division of the Tax Court involving any question arising under section 721(a) (2) (C) or section 722 with respect to any taxable year shall be reviewed by a special division of the Tax Court which shall be constituted by the presiding judge and consist of not less than three judges of the Tax Court. The decisions of such special division shall not be reviewable by the Tax Court, and shall be deemed decisions of the Tax Court."

The taxpayer's contention is that Congress intended that the review by a special division of the Tax Court in cases of this kind should take the place of a review by the federal courts of appeals, and consequently the same procedure should be followed in the special division as is employed by the appellate courts in the review of decisions of the Tax Court in ordinary cases, including the right of the parties to file briefs and to appear by counsel and to be heard. It is pointed out that the statute as originally passed by the House of Representatives provided that the special division should be the sole trial court in such cases; but the Senate amended the bill to provide for an initial hearing by a regular division of the Tax Court to be followed by a review by a special division of the court constituted by the chairman, or the presiding judge, and composed of not less than three members. See Senate Report No. 1631, 77th Cong., 2nd Sess., p. 206. The report shows that it was deemed essential that such cases be decided by one group familiar with the problems involved so as to insure a consistent and uniform application of the statutes; and at the same time there was provided flexible machinery to coordinate cases involving both relief and...