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7 T.C. 182

Belcher v. Commissioner

United States Tax Court

Decided June 19, 1946

United States Tax Court · decided 1946-06-19

The income of a lumber business held taxable to husband in its entirety where the partnership relation between him and his wife, the latter acting individually and as trustee for their children, was shown to be lacking in reality because capital contributions of wife and trusts originated with the husband, the wife had no voice in control or management, and the services rendered by her were minor.

Cited by 10 later decisions — most recently June 1951

1 federal appellate ·

Applies 26 U.S.C. § 181

Relies on Commissioner v. Tower · Lusthaus v. Commissioner · Akers v. Commissioner

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decision will be entered for the respondent · Decided 1946-06-19

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1OPINION.

Tyson, Judge:

¶2The respondent determined the petitioner to be taxable on the entire net income of the business of W. A. Belcher Lumber Co. for the year 1941.

¶3The crucial question to be decided is whether, for Federal tax purposes, the W. A. Belcher Lumber Co. was a partnership composed of petitioner, his wife individually, and his wife as trustee for his four children, in 1941.

¶4We think that under the facts shown in our findings the answer to the question and the disposition of this case are controlled by Commissioner v. Tower, 327 U. S. 280; Lusthaus v. Commissioner, 327 U. S. 293; Abe Schreiber, 6 T. C. 707; Floyd D. Akers, 6 T. C. 693; Ed. Dubinsky Durwood, 6 T. C. 682; Lewis Coleman Benson, 6 T. C. 748; Howard B. Lawton, 6 T. C. 1093; and John Lang, 7 T. C. 6.

¶5In the Tower case the Court said:

… If she [a wife] either invests capital originating with her or substantially contributes to the control and management of the business, or otherwise performs vital additional services, or does all of these things she may be a partner as contemplated by 26 U. S. C. §§ 181, 182. … But when she [a wife] does not share in the management and control of the business, contributes no vital additional service, and where the husband purports in some way to have given her a partnership interest, the Tax Court may properly take these circumstances into consideration in determining whether the partnership is real within the meaning of the federal revenue laws.

¶6Here it is clear that none of the capital invested in the business at the outset was capital “originating” with the wife individually or as trustee. We also think that the $20,000 borrowed from petitioner’s brother did not constitute capital “originating” with the wife individually or as trustee, for, while this amount constituted funds borrowed by the wife individually and as trustee, such amount was after-wards repaid by the business. Cf. Lusthaus v. Commissioner, supra.

¶7It is also clear that, as in the Lusthaus, Schreiber, Durwood, and Lawton cases, the wife, neither in her individual capacity nor as trustee, rendered any services that were “vital” to the business, since the most that can be said as to those services is that they were of a minor character and were rendered only during those times when petitioner’s wife was not engaged in caring for her three young children, one of those children having been born only a few days before the beginning of the taxable year; and in this connection it would seem that, nothing to the contrary appearing, the wife was amply compensated for such services by the $250 per month paid her as a salary.

¶8Also, the wife rendered no services of a managerial nature, since the business was at all times within the exclusive management and control of petitioner, who made all decisions; and only the petitioner, or the bookkeeper upon petitioner’s authorization, could sign checks on the bank account of the business. The fact that petitioner from time to time discussed business problems with his wife does not alter the situation as it would exist without such discussions. Abe Schreiber, supra; Floyd D. Akers, supra; and John Lang, supra.

¶9In view of our conclusion as to the claimed partnership, it is unnecessary to consider whether, as a separate proposition, the petitioner would or would not be taxable on any income of the trusts as such.

¶10The respondent did not err in taxing all the net income for 1941 of the W. A. Belcher Lumber Co. to the petitioner.

¶11Decision will be entered for the respondent.

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