Opinion

Riley v. Commissioner

  • 35 T.C. 848
  • 1961 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 217
Court
United States Tax Court
Filed
Feb 28, 1961
Status
Published
Author
Opper
On the bench
Opper,Tietjens,Raum,Opper,Tietjens,Raum
Cited by
18 cases
Authority
More cited than 10.2%

The opinion

Opper, J., dissenting: For present purposes, I assume that the Commissioner’s regulation is a permissible interpretation of the statute. This deficiency must then have included an implicit determination by respondent that the requisite “view” existed prior to the completion of construction. The burden of proving the contrary rests upon petitioner. Rose Sidney, 30 T.C. 1155 (1958), aff'd. 273 F. 2d 928 (C.A. 2, 1960). This view need not be the “principal” one. Max Mintz, 32 T.C. 723 (1959), aff'd. 284 F. 2d 554 (C.A. 2, 1960). I find nothing in the record, including the Court’s Findings of Fact, which even remotely sustains the burden of proving that there was no such view, either “unconditionally” or at least “conditionally, or as a recognized possibility.” Sec. 29.117-11(5), Regs. 111, 1953- 1 C.B. 187, 190 . Certainly, the concededly unreliable testimony of petitioner, with no impartial evidence to support it, cannot justify the ultimate finding, which is really a legal conclusion, that the corporation was not “availed of” with a “view to * * * [the realization of gain through a] sale or * * * distribution * * * prior to the realization * * * of a substantial part of the net income to be derived from such property.” This is the only test which the statute invokes. I, accordingly, respectfully dissent.

Tietjens, Raum, PieRce, and Mulroney, JJ., agree with this dissent.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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