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Helvering Vs Gregory Case Study

Decent Essays

Issue

The issue in Helvering v. Gregory is the plaintiff, Helvering, requesting an appeal for a prior decision which expunged Gregory’s (defendant) deficiency in income taxes (The court favored with Gregory in that case.) Helvering v. Gregory is in appeals court – U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Facts

Guy T. Helvering – Plaintiff (Commissioner of Internal Revenue)

Evelyn F. Gregory – (Defendant) Taxpayer

Gregory was the owner of all shares of United Mortgage Company. United Mortgage owned 1000 shares of stock in Monitor Securities Corporation. Gregory then created Averill Corp and transferred the 1000 shares in Monitor Securities to Averill. Then, she dissolved Averill and those 1000 shares in Monitor went back to her. That same …show more content…

The Commissioner also stated that Gregory owned all three of those corporations to simply make it appear as a reorganization, all with the goal of disposing of the Monitor shares without paying income tax on. The commissioner stated that the transaction was not a merger or consolidation but a sale as its only purpose was to cover up any tax implications.

Law

Gregory argued that under section 112 of the Revenue Act of 1928 26 USCA 2112, the transfer of shares was a reorganization and since the transfer was a reorganization, she claimed that her gain should not be recognized because the shares were distributed in pursuance of a plan reorganization. Per section 112, reorganizations are not taxed.

The Commissioner assessed that the transfer of shares was not a true reorganization under section 112 because it was intended only to avoid taxes, which does not fall under section 112. More so, it was a sale.

The judge cites a few cases, including Rockefeller v. US, and U.S. v. Phyllis “from tax the gain from exchanges made in connection with a reorganization in order that ordinary business transactions will not be

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