U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1974

Northwest Acceptance Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Decided July 24, 1974 · Merrill, Trask, Solomon

500 F.2d 1222 (Federal Reporter, Second Series)

Counsel

Richard Farber (argued), Atty. for Tax Div., U. S. Dept, of Justice, Washington, D. C., for respondent-appellant., Frederick H. Torp (argued), Davies, Biggs, Strayer, Stoel & Boley, Portland, Or., for petitioner-appellee.

Cases that cite this one

23 later published cases cite this decision.

Cooper v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1987)
Kanetzke v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1991)
Transamerica Corp. v. United States (Court of Claims 1988)
Coleman v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1986)
Miller v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1985)
Leslie Leasing Co. v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1983)
Frank Lyon Co. v. United States (Supreme Court of the United States 1978)
Penn-Dixie Steel Corp. v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1978)
Davis v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1978)
P. Liedtka Trucking, Inc. v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1975)
LTV Corp. v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1974)
Holden v. Comm'r (United States Tax Court 2015)
Boyce v. Comm'r (United States Tax Court 2010)
Harry E. Peaden, Jr. v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1999)
Lieber v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1993)
Aderholt Specialty Co. v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1985)
West v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1984)
Ziegler v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1984)
Adney v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1983)
Swift Dodge v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (9th Cir. 1982)
Illinois Valley Paving Co. v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1981)
Estate of Charles T. Franklin, Deceased v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (9th Cir. 1976)
Michael L. Rockwell, and Regina Rockwell v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (9th Cir. 1975)

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

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

In, this appeal from a decision of the Tax Court reported at 58 T.C. 836 the issue is whether certain contractual agreements entered into by the taxpayer with others for the use of equipment, constituted conditional sales contracts or leases.

If the transactions were bona fide leases and the taxpayer remained the owner of the equipment, then it was entitled to a deduction for depreciation, Int.Rev.Code of 1954 § 167, and an investment credit, Int.Rev.Code of 1954 § 38, both of which the taxpayer had taken. It would not have obtained those tax advantages were the agreements in question contracts of sale or conditional sales. The issue is essentially a factual one. As the Tax Court pointed out, “[t]he factual issue presented here is an extremely close one, making the decision difficult.” That court resolved the contest in favor of the taxpayer, holding that the agreements were leases. Weighing the same evidence we might well have decided the case differently notwithstanding the decision in Lockhart Leasing Co. v. United States, 446 F.2d 269 (10th Cir. 1971), upon which the Tax Court so heavily relied. But our standard of review requires us to affirm unless the decision is “clearly erroneous.” Commissioner v. Duberstein, 363 U.S. 278, 291, 80 S.Ct. 1190, 4 L.Ed.2d 1218 (1960); Brumley-Donaldson Co. v. Commissioner, 443 F.2d 501, 503 n.3 (9th Cir. 1971); Made Rite Investment Co. v. Commissioner, 357 F.2d 647, 648 (9th Cir. 1966); Kessmar Construction Co. v. Commissioner, 336 F.2d 865, 867 (9th Cir. 1964). We cannot find that the decision of the Tax Court is clearly erroneous.

Judgment affirmed.

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