Ramey v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 17993.
Decision Date | 01 July 1968 |
Docket Number | No. 17993.,17993. |
Citation | 398 F.2d 478 |
Parties | Lesta RAMEY and Alka Ramey, Petitioners, v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
John A. Dunkel, Columbus, Ohio (John A. Dunkel, Porter, Stanley, Treffinger & Platt, Columbus, Ohio, on the brief), for petitioners.
Thomas L. Stapleton, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., Mitchell Rogovin, Asst. Atty. Gen., Lee A. Jackson, Grant W. Wiprud, Thomas L. Stapleton, Attys., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., for respondent.
Before CELEBREZZE, PECK and McCREE, Circuit Judges.
Petitioner, a coal miner, seeks review of a Tax Court decision holding that he is not entitled to deduct a percentage depletion allowance from the gross income from the sale of certain coal in which the Petitioner allegedly had an economic interest. See §§ 611(a), 613 (a) and (b), and 631(c), Internal Revenue Act of 1954. The Tax Court found that the Petitioner did not have an economic interest in the coal. That determination presents the sole issue raised by this appeal.
The determinative facts of this case are almost identical to the facts of Parsons v. Smith, 359 U.S. 215, 79 S.Ct. 656, 3 L.Ed.2d 747 (1959), and Paragon Jewel Coal Co. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 380 U.S. 624, 85 S.Ct. 1207, 14 L.Ed.2d 116 (1965) in that the owner of the land from which the coal was mined was also the sole purchaser of the coal. Those cases and other cases concerning a determination of whether a taxpayer has an "economic interest" in certain property make it clear that the determination depends upon the totality of the facts of each case. Important, if not decisive, considerations are the intent of the parties and the making of some capital investment in the minerals by the taxpayer. In the instant case, the Tax Court found that the owner of the land from which the coal was mined did not intend to surrender any capital interest in the coal to the taxpayer and that an alleged royalty paid under an agreement with the landowner was "* * * no more than an offset or reduction in the price paid * * *". We cannot say that those findings are clearly erroneous. Cf. Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Duberstein, 363 U.S. 278, 80 S.Ct. 1190, 4 L.Ed.2d 1218 (1960).
It is therefore ordered that the decision of the Tax Court be, and it is, hereby affirmed.
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Somont Oil Company, Inc. v. Commissioner
...of whether a taxpayer has an economic interest depends upon the facts in each case. Ramey v. Commissioner [68-2 USTC ¶ 9480], 398 F.2d 478, 479 (6th Cir. 1968), affg. [Dec. 28,302] 47 T.C. 363 In the present case, the relevant terms of the letter agreement provide: For those foreign investo......
-
Thornberry Const. Co., Inc. v. US
...has an `economic interest' in certain property * * depends upon the totality of the facts of each case." Ramey v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 398 F.2d 478 (6th Cir. 1968). In insisting that what is involved here is a mere "contract to mine coal", however, defendant Pursuant to the Mar......
-
Gap Anthracite Co. v. Commissioner
...USTC ¶ 9340, 67 F. Supp. 166, 175 (D.W. Va. 1946); see Lesta Ramey Dec. 28,302, 47 T.C. 363, 373 (1967), affd. 68-2 USTC ¶ 9480 398 F. 2d 478 (C.A. 6, 1968). Finally, Biscontini and, later, Glen Nan were specifically obligated to accept transfer of title and formally assume the We are unimp......
-
Deskins v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue
...v. Commissioner, supra, 86 T.C. at 348. The determination depends on the totality of the facts of each case. Ramey v. Commissioner, 398 F.2d 478, 478-479 (6th Cir. 1968). See Kirby Petroleum Co. v. Commissioner, 326 U.S. 599, 606 (1946); Lesher v. Commissioner, 73 T.C. 340, 360 (1979), affd......