Nat'l Comm. to Secure Justice in the Rosenberg Case v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue, Docket No. 56044.

• Court: United States Tax Court
• Writing for the Court: OPPER
• Citation: 27 T.C. 837
• Parties: NATIONAL COMMITTEE TO SECURE JUSTICE IN THE ROSENBERG CASE, PETITIONER, v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, RESPONDENT.
• Docket Number: Docket No. 56044.
• Decision Date: 26 February 1957

27 T.C. 837

NATIONAL COMMITTEE TO SECURE JUSTICE IN THE ROSENBERG CASE, PETITIONER,
v.
COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, RESPONDENT.

Docket No. 56044.

Tax Court of the United States.

Filed February 26, 1957.

[27 T.C. 837]

Milton H. Friedman, Esq., and Bernard Ades, Esq., for the petitioner.

Richard G. Maloney, Esq., for the respondent.

Where petitioner, a New York State unincorporated association, had apparently ceased to exist prior to the time its petition herein was filed by its former treasurer, held, the proceeding must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

This proceeding involves the following deficiencies in income tax and additions to tax for failure to file returns:

+-------------------------------------------+
                ¦Fiscal year ended ¦ ¦Additions to¦
                +-------------------+----------+------------¦
                ¦October 31 ¦Income tax¦tax ¦
                +-------------------+----------+------------¦
                ¦1952 ¦$15,373.99¦$3,843.49 ¦
                +-------------------+----------+------------¦
                ¦1953 ¦82,701.20 ¦16,540.24 ¦
                +-------------------------------------------+
                

Petitioner concedes that if we find any deficiency in income tax, additions to tax under section 291(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939 will be applicable thereto. At the hearing respondent moved to dismiss this proceeding for lack of jurisdiction, which motion we then took under advisement.

FINDINGS OF FACT.

Some of the facts have been stipulated and are hereby found.

Petitioner was organized on or about November 1, 1951.¹ No written articles of association were ever executed. During the tax years involved petitioner was an unincorporated association with its principal office at 1050 Sixth Avenue, New York, New York. It was conducted by an executive committee consisting of the following-named individuals:

+-------------------------+
                ¦Joseph Brainin ¦Chairman ¦
                +---------------+---------¦
                ¦Emily Alman ¦Treasurer¦
                +-------------------------+
                

[27 T.C. 838]

At the end of October 1953 petitioner ceased to function, closed its books, and formally went out of existence. No written instrument was executed on its dissolution. After its dissolution in October 1953 petitioner had no further meetings.

On May 13, 1954, income tax returns for the tax years involved were filed on behalf of petitioner with the director of internal revenue for the lower Manhattan district of New York. These returns were signed by ‘Joseph Brainin—Co-chairman’ and ‘Emily Alman,‘ as treasurer. The notice of deficiency covering the tax years involved was placed in the mail addressed to petitioner at 1050 Sixth Avenue, New York, New York, on October 26, 1954. On January 21, 1955, a petition, purporting to be filed on behalf of petitioner, was filed with the Tax Court assigning errors in respondent's determinations. The petition was signed by Bernard Ades as counsel for petitioner and contained the following verification:

STATE OF NEW YORK

COUNTY OF QUEENS ss:

Emily Alman, being duly sworn, says that she was the Treasurer of the National Committee to Secure Justice in the Rosenberg Case, above-named, which ceased to function in October 1953, and that she is duly authorized to verify the foregoing petition, that she has read the foregoing petition...