U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 1968

Lesta Ramey and Alka Ramey v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Decided July 1, 1968 · Celebrezze, Peck, McCree

398 F.2d 478; 22 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5227; 1968 U.S. App. LEXIS 6270 (Federal Reporter, Second Series)

Counsel

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.

Cases that cite this one

8 later published cases cite this decision.

Vericoals, Inc. v. Revenue Cabinet (Ky. Ct. App. 1994)
Missouri River Sand Co. v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1984)
Holbrook v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1975)
Victory Sand & Concrete, Inc. v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1974)
Goodfellow v. Comm'r (United States Tax Court 2002)
Somont Oil Co. v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1991)
Thornberry Construction Co. v. United States (Court of Claims 1978)
Gap Anthracite Co. v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1972)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion

ORDER.

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 ease 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 *479 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.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.