Case: PENN YAN AGWAY COOPERATIVE, INC. v. THE UNITED STATES
Abbreviation: Penn Yan Agway Cooperative, Inc. v. United States
Decision Date: 1969-11-14
Docket Number: No. 56-66
Citation: 189 Ct. Cl. 434
Volume: 189
Reporter: United States Court of Claims Reports
Court: United States Court of Claims
Jurisdiction: United States
Parties: PENN YAN AGWAY COOPERATIVE, INC. v. THE UNITED STATES
Judges: Before Cowew, Chief Judge, Laramore, Dureee, Davis, ColliNS, SkeltoN and Nichols, Judges.
Pages: 434–466

Head Matter:
417 F. 2d 1372
PENN YAN AGWAY COOPERATIVE, INC. v. THE UNITED STATES
[No. 56-66.
Decided November 14, 1969]
Mao Asbill, Jr., attorney of record, for plaintiff.
Ira M. hanger and Joseph Kovner, with, whom was Assistant Attorney General JoTwmie M. Walters, for defendant. Philip B. Miller, of counsel.
Before Cowew, Chief Judge, Laramore, Dureee, Davis, ColliNS, SkeltoN and Nichols, Judges.

Opinion:
Per Curiam:
This case was referred to Trial Commissioner Roald A. Hogenson with directions to make findings of fact and recommendation for conclusions of law under the order of reference and Rule 57 (a) [since September 1,1969, Rule 134(h)]. The commissioner has done so in an opinion and report filed on November 20,1968. Defendant requested the court to adopt the commissioner's findings of fact with the exception of Finding 45 and excepted to his recommended conclusion of law. The case has 'been submitted to the court on oral argument of counsel and the briefs of the parties. Since the court agrees with the commissioner's opinion, findings and recommended conclusion of law, with slight additions, as hereinafter set forth, it hereby adopts the same as the basis for its judgment in this case. Therefore, plaintiff is entitled to recover and judgment is entered for plaintiff in the sum of $113 plus interest as provided by law.
Commissioner Hogenson's opinion, as modified by the additions of the court, is as follows:
Plaintiff seeks a ruling in this case that in the computation of its federal income tax liability for the taxable year ending June 30,1959, it is entitled to deduct, as interest under § 163 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, or as ordinary and necessary business expense under § 162, the amount by which its payment that year to the Springfield Bank for Cooperatives for 4.07 shares of class C stock of that bank exceeded the fair market value of such stock at that time. Plaintiff paid $100 per share, or $407. The fair market value was $6.90 per share, or $28.08. Thus, the claimed deduction amounts to $378.92. If plaintiff is entitled to the deduction, judgment should be entered for plaintiff in the sum of $113, plus interest as provided by law.
Defendant's position is that the purchase of the 4.07 shares of the class C stock was a capital investment in the Springfield Bank for Cooperatives under § 118 and 1221 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, that no disposition of such stock has been made by plaintiff, that a deductible expense or loss did not occur, and that plaintiff's petition should be dismissed.
For the reasons hereinafter stated, it is my opinion that plaintiff is entitled to recover.
Plaintiff, a New York corporation, is and was a farmers' purchasing cooperative. Just prior to the commencement of its 1959 fiscal year, plaintiff borrowed $75,000 from the Springfield Bank for Cooperatives, Springfield, Massachusetts. In accordance with the two loan agreements involved, plaintiff executed and delivered to the bank its two promissory notes, each for $37,500, and received from the bank $74,900 in cash and one share of the bank's class C stock of $100 par value. This one share (not part of the 4.07 shares upon which plaintiff's claim is based) was that required by statute, 12 TJ.S.C. § 1134d(a) (3), to qualify plaintiff cooperative to borrow from the bank. Obviously, plaintiff had not acquired any of such stock previously.
During its fiscal year 1959, plaintiff was required to purchase from the bank 4.07 additional shares of the bank's class C stock at the par value of $100 per share. This requirement was provided by the cited statute and the terms of the loan agreements, which stated that the borrowing cooperative had to purchase such stock in an amount equal to not less than 10 or more than 25 percent, as prescribed by the board of directors of the bank with the approval of the Farm Credit Administration, of the amount of interest payable by the borrower to the bank for each calendar quarter. For the period of time involved herein, the rate of purchase had been duly fixed at 15 percent. Accordingly, plaintiff during the pertinent fiscal year paid $407 to the bank (being 15 percent of its interest obligations on the pertinent loans during that time) and received 4.07 shares of the bank's class C stock at par value of $100 each.
The 4.07 shares of class C stock are and were carried on plaintiff's financial records in an asset account entitled "In vestments — Bank for Cooperatives." In its annual reports to stockholders, the Springfield Bank has consistently described the purchases and ownership of class C stock by its borrowing cooperatives as investment capital.
The Springfield Bank for Cooperatives is one of 12 regional banks, which together with the Central Bank for Cooperatives, comprise a system of banks for cooperatives operated since 1983 under charters issued by the Farm Credit Administration pursuant to statutory authorization.
Prior to the organization of the Farm Credit Administration and the system of banks for cooperatives pursuant to the Farm Credit Act of 1933, 48 Stat. 257, farmers generally as well as farmers' cooperatives had encountered severe difficulties in securing adequate commercial credit at reasonable interest rates. Such problems had not been solved in the administration by the Federal Farm Loan Board of the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916, 39 Stat. 360, enacted by Congress to provide loans by the Federal land banks on farm mortgage security to farmers and farmers' cooperatives.
To improve and expand the sources of credit at reasonable rates to farmers, and to stimulate the growth and development of farmers' cooperatives, Congress enacted the Farm Credit Act of 1933, sufra, pursuant to which, the system of banks for cooperatives was established as part of the overall structure of the Farm Credit Administration. This agency in considerably expanded form succeeded to the functions of the previous Federal Farm Loan Board.
The capital of the banks for cooperatives was derived from public funds appropriated by Congress, except that additional capital was supplied pursuant to a provision of the founding act that a borrowing cooperative had to purchase $100 of stock of the lending bank for each $2,000 borrowed. However, such stock was redeemable on demand at the option of the cooperative upon the payment of the outstanding loan.
Defendant's original capital investment, or stock subscription, in the banks for cooperatives as they were established under the Farm Credit Act of 1933, supra, amounted to $110,000,000, with $5,000,000 provided to each of the 12 regional banks, and $50,000,000 to the Central Bank for Cooperatives.
In time, tlie leaders of the system of banks for cooperatives evolved a plan of retirement of government-owned stock, utilizing the revolving fund method, commonly employed in supplying capital to farmers' cooperatives by its members. In the operation of a farmers' cooperative, usually the members contribute the initial capital, with further contributions being made by each member in succeeding years in proportion to his use of, or benefits received from, the cooperative, and with capital investment being periodically returned to members in order of its contribution.
After a number of years of consideration of such a plan, Congress enacted the Farm Credit Act of 1953, 67 Stat. 390, which established the Federal Farm Credit Board to (a) exercise general direction and supervision over the performance of the system of banks for cooperatives, and to (b) consider and make recommendations to Congress on the best means for eventually retiring the government capital from the Farm Credit system.
Pursuant to the recommendations of the Federal Farm Credit Board, Congress enacted the Farm Credit Act of 1955, 69 Stat. 655, effective January 1,1956, which provided a comprehensive plan for retirement of government-owned capital from the banks for cooperatives, with the ultimate management, control, and ownership of each bank to become vested in its borrowing cooperatives. The act provided for three classes of stock, each having par value of $100 per share: Class A for government-owned capital; class B to be issued to private investors; and class C to be issued only to farmers' cooperatives borrowing from the particular bank.
Class A stock could be issued only to the Governor of the Farm Credit Administration on behalf of the United States. It was nonvoting and no dividends could be paid thereon. Each regional bank was required to retire each year an amount of class A stock at least equivalent to the amount of class C stock issued for that year, with some exceptions not of great moment in this case.
As provided by the act, class B stock could be issued at par to any person. It was nonvoting and could pay dividends of not to exceed 4 percent per annum of its par value. It could be called for retirement at par, in the order of its issuance, but only after the retirement of all class A stock.
As provided by the act, class C stock, except upon authorization of the board of directors of the issuing bank and approval of the Farm Credit Administration, could be issued or transferred only to farmers' cooperatives. It could be issued at no more than its $100 par value and could pay no dividends. Each holder of class C stock was entitled to no more than one vote, regardless of the number of shares held. Each borrower from a bank was required to own at the time the loan was made at least one share of class C stock, and was also required to invest quarterly in class C stock an amount equal to not less than 10 nor more than 25 percent, as prescribed by the board of directors of the bank with the approval of the Farm Credit Administration, of the amount of interest payable by it to the bank during the calendar quarter. In the discretion of the board of directors of the bank, class C stock could be retired at par, in the order of its issuance. But class C stock issued for any fiscal year could be retired only after all class A stock had been retired, and all class B stock issued during or prior to that fiscal year had been called for retirement. Each regional bank had a first lien on class C stock as collateral for the owner's indebtedness to the bank, and could retire the class C stock of a defaulting borrower, at par, in total or partial liquidation of such indebtedness.
The overall purpose of the act was to accomplish retirement of all class A and B stock, after which the oldest class C stock (in order of its issuance) would be retired, as new class C stock was issued to borrowing cooperatives. Thus, complete ownership of the banks for cooperatives would become vested in the borrowing cooperatives, and a revolving fund method of capitalization would be fully established. 2 IJ.S.C. Cong. & Admn. News 2957, 84th Cong., 1st Sess., 1955.
Congress intended that the class C stock would be the voting, common stock of each bank, 2 U.S.C. Cong. & Admn. News, supra, at 2955-2956, and provided in the act that any holder of such stock shall not be entitled to vote, if it has not been a borrower from the bank within the period of two years next preceding a date, fixed by the Farm Credit Administration, prior to the commencement of voting. Since the class A and class B stockholders have no voting rights, the class C stockholders are the only ones with power to elect members to the board of directors of the bank. Prior to 1964, the holders of class C stock of each bank could elect only one of its seven directors, and since 1964, they have elected two of the seven. The other five directors are elected by the local district Production Credit Associations (two members), and the local district Federal Land Bank Associations (two members), with the seventh being appointed by the Governor of the Farm Credit Administration.
The rate of interest charged to plaintiff by the Springfield Bank on the pertinent loan transactions (as stated in the loan documents) was 4.75 percent per annum. This was exclusive of the 15 percent assessment on payable interest for purchase of class C stock. Such assessment could be considered in whole or in part as additional interest by way of a surcharge on the basic interest rate, or as an ordinary and necessary business expense, or as a measurement of the statutory obligation of a borrowing cooperative to invest capital in the lending bank for cooperatives.
The 15 percent surcharge on interest, if the stock purchase assessment be considered that, would increase the basic interest rate of 4.75 percent by 0.7125 to 5.4625 percent per annum. Since plaintiff concedes that 6.9 percent of the cost of each of the pertinent shares of stock (the $6.90 market value of each share paid for at $100 par value) was not deductible interest or expense, the surcharge on interest (under plaintiff's theory) would be 93.1 percent of the 15 percent assessment, thus increasing the basic interest rate of 4.75 by 0.6633 to 5.4133 percent per annum.
Since their organization in 1933, the banks for cooperatives have consistently provided lower rates of interest to farmers' cooperatives than could have been obtained on similar loans at commercial banks. For the year 1960 (there being no specific evidence in the record for 1959), the comparative annual interest charges on loans to farm customers were respectively on mortgage and production loans: 4.75 and 5.75 percent by banks for cooperatives, and 6 and 6.9 percent by commercial banks.
It is obvious that even with the addition of the above-described 15 percent surcharge on the basic interest rate of 4.75 percent, plaintiff obtained a lesser rate of interest from the Springfield Bank than it could have obtained from a commercial bank, because plaintiff calculated the comparative cost of borrowing from the Springfield Bank vis-a-vis a commercial bank, and took into consideration that the requirement of purchasing class C stock (to the extent of 15 percent of interest payable on cooperative bank loans) was a loss of use of funds and that such expenditures were an added cost factor over and above the basic rate provided by the Springfield Bank. Furthermore, from the overall policy of the banks for cooperatives, guided by the Farm Credit Administration in expression of the will of Congress, it can be inferred that more favorable interest rates as compared to commercial credit rates have been and will continue to be provided by such banks to farmers' cooperatives, even adding the cost of the required purchase of class C stock on the theory that such cost is an increase of or a surcharge upon the basic interest rates provided by such banks. Plaintiff did not receive any special services other than the lending of money from the Springfield Bank.
As in the case of all of the banks for cooperatives, the profits of the Springfield Bank, to the extent they exceeded certain amounts of reserves specified by statute, were required by law to be distributed to borrowers as patronage refunds, in the form of class C stock, not in proportion to the class C stock owned by each borrower, but in the proportion that the amount of interest on the loans of each borrower bore to the total interest earned by the bank on the loans of all borrowers during the fiscal year. This was in accordance with the cooperative principle that those who make use of the cooperative's facilities, and hence, bear the costs of operation, should be able to reduce their costs by receiving a por tion of the cooperative's profits allocated on a patronage or use basis.
For its share of the distributed profits of the Springfield Bank for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1959, plaintiff received 9.76 shares of class C stock.
However, except for the right ultimately to receive their par value on redemption, the 4.07 shares of class C stock involved in plaintiff's claim did not entitle plaintiff to any benefit which plaintiff did not already enjoy by reason of having acquired in 1958 the single qualifying share required by law in order to permit it to borrow from the bank. The 4.07 shares gave plaintiff no additional voting rights, no additional right to share in the profits of the bank, and no additional benefits of any kind.
As of December 31, 1955, defendant had $6,600,000 invested in the Springfield Bank for Cooperatives, for which class A stock was issued. From January 1,1956, the effective date of the act authorizing the three classes of stock, to June 30, 1959, defendant's holding of class A stock was reduced by $875,600 by redemption by the bank of class A stock in that amount. The retirement rate was about $245,000 per year during that period of time. As of June 30, 1959, there was no evidence of any trend toward a larger retirement rate.
As of June 30,1958, the Springfield Bank had issued and outstanding about $7,800,000 par value of class A, B, and C stock, all of which would have had to be retired before any of the class C stock issued in fiscal year 1959. Thus, plaintiff's 4.07 shares of class C stock acquired in that year would be reached for retirement in 30 to 31 years at the experienced retirement rate of $245,000 per year of the previously issued stock.
Plaintiff now owns and has continued to own the 4.07 shares of class C stock ever since acquired from the Springfield Bank in the taxable year involved. There have been no sales of class C stock other than issuance by a bank for cooperatives to a borrowing farmers' cooperative. As stated above, such stock could be issued or transferred only to a farmers' cooperative, except upon authorization of the bank's board of directors with approval of the Farm Credit Administration. There is no evidence that approval could be obtained of a sale to any investor other than a cooperative, and it is not shown that any cooperative would have been willing to buy plaintiff's 4.07 shares at any satisfactory price. Plaintiff reasonably believed that there was no market for such stock.
The fair market value of plaintiff's 4.07 shares of class C stock was established at $6.90 per share as of the time of its acquisition by plaintiff in 1959 by expert stock evaluation testimony adduced by. plaintiff. Assuming correctly that no dividends could be paid on such stock, and that no sales had occurred, the experts concluded that the willing buyer would be an investor who would know that he would realize no return upon such stock except its $100 par value upon its retirement in 30 or 31 years, that such an investor, in accordance with historical experience in trading in common stocks, would expect a return (including dividends and appreciation in value) of 9 to 10 percent compounded annually on an investment in common stocks at that time, and that the sales price of $6.90 per share compounded annually at such a rate would amount to the $100 which would be returned to such investor in 30 to 31 years.
Defendant's basic position is that the legislative history and the statutory method of providing capital to the banks for cooperatives by use of the revolving fund principle demonstrate that plaintiff's purchase of the 4.07 shares of class C stock was intended by Congress, the bank, and plaintiff to be a capital investment, and that such stock is and was a capital asset acquired and held by plaintiff under § 1221 of the Internal Eevenue Code of 1954.
Defendant ascribes a full value of $100 per share as of the time of plaintiff's acquisition of such stock on the illusory argument that such value is established by (1) the "extremely valuable intangible benefit" which all member cooperatives (including plaintiff among all others) received from the system of banks for cooperatives, i.e., the right to borrow large sums of money over long periods of time at low interest rates, as contrasted with rates available at commercial banks; (2) the alleged impossibility of assigning a "determinable market value" to such stock because of its special characteristics; and (3) the fairness for tax purposes of awaiting the realization of the $100 per share proceeds of redemption, since plaintiff's method of valuation was a "discounting of the redemption value" to $6.90 per share "based upon a speculation as to when it would be redeemed and a hypothetical discount factor derived from other unrelated investments."
But the cold fact remains that when plaintiff paid the $407 for the 4.07 shares, it received stock which was greatly less valuable from an economic and financial standpoint than the purchase price required by law and the terms of the loan agreements. The "intangible benefits" bestowed by Congress on farmers' cooperatives generally do not alter this fact. As reasonable management of the business would be expected to do, plaintiff considered the long delay in recovery of the purchase price of such no-dividend stock as a loss of use of funds in calculating the comparative loan costs from the Springfield Bank vis-a-vis a commercial bank. The required purchase of such stock gave plaintiff no economic or financial benefit other than the circumstance that it could not have obtained the loan with its favorable interest rate without fulfillment of the statutory requirement. But in the extremely practical field of taxation, in which substance prevails over form, it cannot reasonably be concluded under the circumstances that Congress has granted favors to cooperatives in furtherance of agricultural policies and taken them away (on the theory of intangible benefits) in whole or in part in the field of raising of public revenues. It is obvious under the facts of this case that plaintiff did not consider, nor could it reasonably be held to have considered, that its required payment of $407 for such stock, was an investment, as no return on such purported investment could be realized, except repayment of the bare purchase price delayed for many years.
Of course, Congress considered the 15 percent surcharge on interest payable on loans as a means of providing capital to the banks for cooperatives, and the bank realistically and lawfully treated as capital, funds received in that manner. But from the standpoint of plaintiff-taxpayer, this was in reality an increase of the basic interest rate as an experienced cost of borrowing money from the bank, even described in the statute and in the loan agreements as a percentage of interest payable on the loans. Its expenditure of $407, at least in greater part, was in reality an item of cost of conducting its business, and in the absence of compelling law to the contrary, and to the extent that it was a reasonably ascertainable cost, should be offset against plaintiff's income in the taxable year involved, in accordance with the annual accounting principle of the federal income tax laws. This is true whether such ascertainable cost is deemed interest paid under § 163 or an ordinary and necessary business expense under § 162 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.
It is a well established rule of law, carefully analyzed and stated in Drybrough v. United States, 208 F. Supp. 279 (W.D. Ky. 1962), that the market value of common stock in a closely held corporation, there being no market sales of such stock, must be determined upon consideration of all relevant f actors, such as earning capacity, anticipated profits, book value, and dividend yield. Obviously, the relevant factors concerning the value of plaintiff's 4.07 shares of class C stock are extremely limited. The only right they carry and have carried is long-delayed redemption at their bare purchase price. But the difficulties inherent in determining their fair market value should not be permitted to defeat a fair and just decision in this case, and consequently plaintiff's evaluation of its 4.07 shares is accepted as the most an investor (which apparently would have to be another farmers' cooperative) would pay, if such a purchaser could be found. Defendant did not offer any evidence to the effect that plaintiff's experts used a discount rate which was more than reasonable, and its expert testimony was that the pertinent stock had a value of $100 per share, unsupported unless defendant's theory of intangible benefits be sustained.
Of course, plaintiff had a right to participate in a division of the assets of the Springfield Bank in the event of its dissolution and liquidation prior to the redemption of plaintiff's stock. But such an event is and was extremely unlikely for various obvious reasons, including unlikely abandonment by Congress of firmly established agricultural policy and the fact that the Springfield Bank and the other banks for cooperatives were jointly and severally liable on $284,500,000 of consolidated debentures issued by such banks. Further more, each of such banks has powerful safeguards against financial difficulty by delaying without cost (in the exercise of their statutory discretion) the redemption of class C stock, by increasing within the statutory limits the required purchase of new class C stock up to 25 percent of interest payable on new loans, and by increasing the basic interest rate on new loans, in line with any increases in commercial credit rates, all without being required to distribute any dividends (other than class C stock) to its stockholders, and then only on a patronage or use basis.
Defendant stresses the fact that plaintiff has continued to own the 4.07 shares of stock ever since acquired from the bank, and argues that this fact distinguishes this case from various cases relied upon by plaintiff. Defendant's position is that even if it is decided that plaintiff acquired the stock when it had a value of $6.90 per share, at a price of $100 per share, such a bad bargain does not give rise to a deductible loss or business expense, but the tax consequences must await the disposition of such assets. Defendant relies upon Montana Power Co. v. United States, 141 Ct. Cl. 620, 623-624, 159 F. Supp. 593, 595, cert. denied, 358 U.S. 842 (1958); Booth Newspapers, Inc. v. United States, 157 Ct. Cl. 886, 896-897, 303 F. 2d 916, 922 (1962); Chase Candy Co. v. United States, 130 Ct. Cl. 102, 126 F. Supp. 521 (1954); Koppers Co., Inc. v. United States, 150 Ct. Cl. 556, 560, 278 F. 2d 946, 949 (1960). But defendant's interpretation of such cases, whether such a holding be expressed or implied therein, cannot reasonably be applied under the facts of the instant case. In my opinion, it would be unfair and unjust to apply such a doctrine in the circumstances where disposition by plaintiff of the class C stock was a practical impossibility due to lack of a market, which resulted from the statutory restrictions placed upon such stock under the capitalization formula prescribed by law for the banks for cooperatives.
A bonus or premium paid by a taxpayer to induce a loan has been held to be deductible as interest within the meaning of the pertinent section of the federal income tax statutes. Wiggin Terminals, Inc. v. United States, 36 F. 2d 893 (1st Cir. 1929) (Payment of $50,000 cash bonus); L-R Heat Treating Co., 28 T.C. 894 (1957) ($61,200 withheld from amounts paid to borrower as premiums for making loans); Court Holding Co. v. Commissioner, 2 T.C. 531, 536 (1943), rev'd on other grounds, 143 F. 2d 823 (5th Cir. 1944), circuit court rev'd and tax court ajf'd on the other grounds, 324 U.S. 331 (1945) (Payment of $350 cash bonus). In each of these cases, the borrower in effect parted with additional money, over and above the agreed interest rate, and for such additional payments, received nothing in return other than the use of the lender's money.
In Wiggin, supra, the payment of the bonus over and above the agreed interest rate was accomplished by the borrower issuing stock to the lender for a temporary period and paying dividends thereon equal to the bonus agreed upon, but the court held that it made no difference what the reason was for paying in that form, and ruled that the real character of the payment of the dividends was interest, according to the intent of the parties.
Universally accepted in cases involving the applicability of usury laws is the general principle, stated in Oil City Motor Co. v. C.I.T. Corp., 76 F. 2d 589, 591 (10th Cir. 1935), and in Memorial Gardens of Wasatch, Inc. v. Everett Vinson & Associates, 264 F. 2d 282, 285 (10th Cir. 1959), as follows:
The familiar doctrine is invoked that if as a condition to the making of a loan at an apparently permissible rate of interest, the lender requires the borrower to sell property to him at less than its value or to purchase property from him at an excessive price, the difference represents interest and will be taken into account in determining whether the transaction is usurious.
In the application of this rule, it would seem clear that if the lender required the borrower to purchase common stocks at a price greater than its market value, as a part of the loan transaction, the excess of the price over the market value would be deemed interest in the case involving usury laws.
Plaintiff relies heavily upon Ancel Greene & Co., 38 T.C. 125 (1962), asserting that it is "square authority for the deduction claimed by plaintiff" herein, and also upon McMillan Mortgage Co., 36 T.C. 924 (1961).
In Aneel Greene, taxpayer was engaged in buying, selling, and servicing real estate mortgages, and sold mortgages to the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), created by Congress and operating with government-owned capital, as a secondary market facility for home mortgages. By statute, 12 U.S.C. § 1718 (a) and (b), FNMA was required to accumulate funds for its capital surplus account from private sources by requiring each mortgage seller to make payments of nonrefundable capital contributions, measured by a percentage of the unpaid principal amounts of mortgages purchased, and to issue its common stock for such contributions. In each of the mortgage sales agreements, reached in each of the three successive taxable years in suit, taxpayer subscribed to such stock, and agreed to have FNMA deduct from the sales price for the mortgages the purchase price of the stock, i.e., its par value of $100 per share. Such stock was actively traded, and during the taxable years in suit had a market value varying from $40.50 to $63 per share. In computing taxable income, taxpayer deducted as ordinary and necessary expense of doing business, the difference between the amount paid to FNMA for such stock and the market value thereof. Such deductions having been disallowed by the Internal Kevenue Service, the issue as stated by the court was whether any portion of the purchase price of the stock, withheld by FNMA from the sales price of the mortgages, is not includible or is deductible from taxpayer's income. Holding for taxpayer and against Internal Bevenue that the sale of mortgages and the purchase of the FNMA stock constituted a single and inseparable transaction, the court concluded that the taxpayer was required to include in income, receipts from the mortgages sold to FNMA plus the fair market value of the FNMA stock. In effect, the court answered the issue as stated, by allowing as a deduction that which had been claimed in the taxpayer's returns, i.e., the difference between the amount paid to FNMA for such stock and its fair market value at the time. The court thus rejected the position of Internal Bevenue that the pertinent stock was a capital asset with a cost basis of $100 per share, at least to the extent to which its cost exceeded its fair market value.
Contrary to any of the language used by the court, defendant construes the holding of the court in Ancel Greene to amount to the allowance of an ordinary loss on the sales of the mortgages.
The court further found in Aneel Greene that taxpayer held substantial portions of the stock for periods in excess of a year and a half and at the end of the last fiscal year in suit was still holding some stock which had been held by it for over 2y2 years. As in the instant case, taxpayer carried the pertinent stock in an investment account in its financial records. In the absence of any other evidence, the court assumed that taxpayer held such stock as an investment either for receipt of dividends payable thereon or in the hope that the market price would increase. On the second issue in the case, the court held that the shares of FNMA stock were capital assets when sold by taxpayer, ruling, however, that gain or loss upon such sales was to be computed by using as the basis for each share of stock sold, the fair market value of such share at the date of its issuance to taxpayer.
Also in Aneel Greene, the tax court correctly commented that the facts with respect to acquisition of FNMA stock were identical except as to amounts and dates with those in McMillan Co., supra, but that the facts with respect to the carrying and holding of the stock differed in the two oases. In McMillan Co., the FNMA stock was held by the taxpayer for relatively short periods of time, when a market existed for such stock, and with no intent to hold such stock as an investment.
In the instant case, the class C stock has been held by plaintiff for a substantial period of time, when no market existed, with no intent to hold such stock as an investment.
In McMillan Co., supra, the facts were identical with those in Aneel Greene, except that the taxpayer did not treat its FNMA stock holdings on its books and records as investments or capital assets, but rather ¡as current assets, recording gain or loss on its sales of such stock as ordinary gain or loss. Furthermore, all shares of such stock were sold or otherwise disposed of within 6 months after their acquisition, with a large number within 80 days. Taxpayer in its contested tax returns treated its dispositions of the stock as ordinary gains or losses, with deficiencies assessed by the Internal Revenue Service on the theory that taxpayer's FNMA stock acquisitions were not purchases of inventory items but of capital assets; that the basis of such stock was its cost of $100 per share, irrespective of its fair market value; and that gain or loss upon subsequent disposition of such stock constituted a capital gain or loss, and not a deductible business expense. The court stated the issue to be whether such shares of stock were capital assets in the hands of the taxpayer, and sustained taxpayer's position that the FNMA stock in its hands was within the first exclusion from the definition of a capital asset contained in § 1221 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as follows:
(1) stock in trade of the taxpayer or other property of a kind which would properly be included in the inventory of the taxpayer if on hand 'at the close of the taxable year, or property held by the taxpayer primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of his trade or business;
The court reasoned that in the conduct of its business the taxpayer first resorted to the private investors' market, but when funds were not available there, turned to the secondary market (FNMA) provided by law for just such purpose, that the FNMA transactions were entered into in the ordinary course of taxpayer's business of marketing its mortgages, that as an integral and essential part of dealing with FNMA, it was required to take part of the proceeds of sale of mortgages to FNMA in FNMA stock at par value, and that it held such stock for sale in the conduct of its business, as shown by its prompt sales thereof, and also by the fact that it would have been unreasonable for taxpayer to have kept funds tied up in such stock when presumably it was the need for liquidity which compelled the sale to FNMA under less favorable terms than in the primary market. The court held that taxpayer's acquisition of such stock and its sale was a normal business activity incident to taxpayer's business, that such stock was not a capital asset, and that taxpayer's "expenditures (whether considered to be expenditures of cash or expenditures of part of the agreed price of mortgages) were necessary expenditures of the business and hence the amount was a deductible item." 36 T.C. at 933.
In M.F.A. Central Cooperative v. Bookwalter, 286 F. Supp. 956 (E.D. Mo. June 14, 1968), now on appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, the district court held that the class C stock, required to be purchased by taxpayer cooperative from the St. Louis Bank for Cooperatives in an amount equal to 15 percent of interest payable by such cooperative to the bank on its outstanding loans, did not have any fair market value at the time of its issue, that the purchase price paid for such stock was not interest, but that such price was deductible as ordinary and necessary business expense.
On the interest issue, the district court distinguished the above-cited Wiggin Terminals, L~B Heat Treating, and Court Holding cases on the grounds that in such cases, the debtor parted with additional money in the form of a bonus or premium and received nothing in return other than use of the lender's money, whereas in the case under consideration, M.F.A. Central Cooferatiwe received class C stock for the additional money.
In support of its decision that the purchase price of such stock was an ordinary and necessary business expense, the district court analyzed the facts and circumstances involved, and concluded that 'the class C stock was of absolutely no use or benefit to the taxpayer, and that the only reason it was purchased was because taxpayer wanted to borrow money from the bank for cooperatives, and the agreement to purchase such stock was imposed as a condition of the loan.
While there is considerable merit in the district court's reliance on the theory of deductible expense, it is my opinion that the more logical basis for allowance of the claimed deduction in this case under all of tbe facts and circumstances is tbat tbe purchase price of tbe class C stock (to tbe extent tbat sucb price exceeded tbe market value of sucb stock, as sucb value is conceded by plaintiff) was interest paid and deductible under § 163 of tbe Internal Eevenue Code of 1954, particularly because tbe amount of sucb stock required to be purchased by law and by the loan agreements involved was measured by a percentage of tbe interest payable on plaintiff's outstanding loan obligations to tbe bank issuing tbe stock. It is held tbat plaintiff's claimed deduction is allowable as interest paid.
FINDINGS or Fact
1. Plaintiff is and was a farmers' cooperative organization, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of tbe State of New York, and for tbe period covered by this action was subject to taxation under § 522 of tbe Internal Eevenue Code of 1954 as an exempt farmers' cooperative described in § 521 of sucb code. Prior to July 1,1964, plaintiff was named Perm Yan Cooperative G.L.F. Service, Inc., and was one of many local cooperatives in tbe northeastern United States which, though not subsidiaries of Cooperative Grange League Federation Exchange, Inc. (hereafter called GLF), were managed pursuant to management contracts by GLF and served as distribution points for GLF products. Plaintiff's name was changed to Penn Yan Agway Cooperative, Inc., when GLF and Eastern States Farmers' Exchange, Incorporated, consolidated effective June 30, 1964, and became Ag-way, Inc., a Delaware business corporation organized to operate as a cooperative.
2. Plaintiff has kept its books and records on tbe accrual method of accounting, and on a July 1-June 30 fiscal year basis.
3. Pursuant to § 6072(d) of tbe Internal Eevenue Code of 1954, plaintiff's federal income tax return for tbe fiscal year ending June 30,1959, was due on or before March 15, 1960, and plaintiff timely filed its return with tbe District Director of Internal Revenue in Syracuse, New York, showing an income tax liability of $5,984.00.
4. The income tax liability shown on such return was satisfied by a payment of $2,992.00 with the return, and a payment of $2,992.00 on June 13, 1960.
5. Plaintiff filed a timely claim for refund of income tax paid for the year ending June 30, 1959, setting forth the grounds and reasons upon which this suit has been brought. On April 18,1963, plaintiff filed a waiver of statutory notice of claim disallowance. On August 14 and 19, 1964, plaintiff and the District Director of Internal Revenue at Buffalo, New York, respectively, executed an agreement to extend the period of limitations on bringing suit by plaintiff for 90 days after final decision in the case of Cooperative Grange League Federation Exchange, Inc. v. United States, Ct. Cl. No. 53-64, the style of which was on August 18, 1964, changed to Agway, Inc., successor to Cooperative Grange League Federation Exchange, Inc. v. United States. Such suit was dismissed by stipulation on December 23, 1965. The petition in the instant suit was timely filed on February 17, 1966.
6. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1959, plaintiff was indebted to the Springfield Bank for Cooperatives, Springfield, Massachusetts, by reason of loans made pursuant to two loan agreements executed on April 18, 1958, each in the amount of $37,500 (one for operating capital purposes, and the other for facility purposes) for a total of $75,000. The actual loan of this amount was consummated approximately 2 months later. On June 24, 1958, plaintiff executed two notes specifying interest at the rate of 4% percent per annum and payable to the order of the Springfield Bank for Cooperatives, representing a total liability of $75,000, and in return for such notes received from the bank on June 27,1958, cash in the amount of $74,900 and one share of $100 par value class C common stock of the Springfield Bank for Cooperatives.
7. The share of stock referred to in the preceding finding represented the purchase by plaintiff of the "qualifying share" required by 12 IT.S.C. § 1134d(a) (3), to be owned by each borrower from the bank.
8. Attached to one of the loan agreements, and included by reference in both loan agreements as if fully set forth therein, was a statement of terms and conditions for all loan agreements, providing in pertinent part as follows:
1. Unless the Association is already the owner of one or more shares of Class C stock of the Bank, the Association shall purchase from the Bank one share of Class C stock of the Bank at its par value of $100 and shall pay for the same on demand. The Bank shall sell and issue said share of Class C stock to the Association upon receipt of payment therefor.
2. The Association shall invest quarterly in Class C stock of the Bank at its fair book value, not exceeding the par value of $100 per share, in an amount equal to not less than 10 nor more than 25 per centum, as prescribed by the Board of Directors of the Bank with the approval of the Farm Credit Administration, of the amount of interest payable by the Association to the Bank for each calendar quarter. The Association shall pay for the Class C stock on the dates the interest is due and payable, and the Bank shall issue the Class C stock to the Association as of the end of each fiscal year of the Bank in the amount of the payments made by the Association for Class C stock during the fiscal year. The indebtedness of the Association to the Bank for Class C stock at any time shall be secured by the mort-fage or mortgages and all other collateral, if any, held y the Bank to secure the repayment of loans made to the Association.
3.All shares of stock of the Bank now owned or hereafter acquired by the Association, and any interests of the Association in and to the allocated contingency reserves and allocated surplus of the Bank, now or hereafter existing, shall be and hereby are pledged to the Bank as security for all indebtedness of the Association to the Bank now or hereafter existing. In the event that any part of said indebtedness shall be in default at any time the Bank may, at its option, in accordance with regulations of the Farm Credit Administration, retire and cancel all or part of said stock at the fair book value thereof, not exceeding par, and cancel all or part of said interests of the Association in the allocated contingency reserves and allocated surplus of the Bank, in total or partial liquidation of the debt, as the case may be.
9. Pursuant to 12 U.S.C. § 1134d(a) (3), and the loan agreements referred to above, plaintiff made quarterly purchases of class C common stock of the Springfield Bank. Tbe amount of these purchases was equal to 15 percent of the amount of interest payable by plaintiff to the Springfield Bank during each calendar quarter, which was the percentage prescribed by the board of directors of the Springfield Bank for Cooperatives with the approval of the Farm Credit Administration. During the fiscal year ending June 30,1959, plaintiff purchased such shares in the following amounts:
Date: Amount
7/21/58 _ $5.86
10/14/58 _ 134.69
1/8/59 _ 134.69
4/6/59 _ 131.76
Total _$407.00
Since the date of purchase of these shares of stock, plaintiff has made no effort to sell or dispose of them and continues to own them at the present time.
10. The total number of shares of class C stock purchased by plaintiff during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1959, was 4.07 shares acquired at the par value of $100 per share for a total cost during the year of $407.00 for such stock.
11. The 4.07 shares of purchased class C stock (together with 9.76 shares of identical class C stock received by plaintiff as a patronage refund for its fiscal year 1959) were represented by stock certificate No. 501 issued to plaintiff as of June 30,1959.
12. The 4.07 shares of class C stock purchased by plaintiff were paid for by check drawn by plaintiff, and were carried on the plaintiff's financial records in an asset account entitled "Investments-Bank for Cooperatives." Plaintiff showed its holding of 4.07 shares of class C stock, as well as the purchase of the "qualifying share" of class C stock, on its tax return under the heading of "Other Investments."
13. Plaintiff purchased the 4.07 shares of class C stock only because it was required to do so by the terms of the loan agreements, which expressed the mandatory provision of 12 U.S.C. § 1134d (a) (3), as implemented by the board of directors of the bank with approval of the Farm Credit Administration.
14. Plaintiff considered that the requirement of purchasing class C stock (to the extent of 15 percent of interest payable on the cooperative bank loans) was a loss of use of funds, and in calculating the comparative cost of borrowing from the bank for cooperatives vis-a-vis a commercial bank, considered such expenditures as an added cost factor over and above the basic interest rate.
15. The Springfield Bank for Cooperatives is one of a group of 13 banks (12 regional and one central bank at Washington, D.C.) comprising a system for banks for cooperatives operated since 1933 under the aegis of the Farm Credit Administration, pursuant to statutory authorization, 12 IT.S.C. § 1134,48 Stat. 257.
Prior to January 1, 1956, the capital of the banks for cooperatives was derived from public funds appropriated by Congress, except that the founding act provided that a cooperative had to buy $100 of bank stock for each $2,000 borrowed. Such stock was redeemable on demand at the option of the cooperative upon payment of the outstanding loan. Each of such banks was chartered by the Farm Credit Administration pursuant to the Farm Credit Act of 1933, 48 Stat. 257. In 1955, Congress amended that act and changed the capital structure of the banks, by providing for three classes (A, B, and C) of stock shareholdings therein.
16. Under the Farm Credit Act of 1955, 12 U.S.C. § 1134d (a) (1), 69 Stat. 655, effective January 1, 1956, the class A stock could be issued only to the Governor of the Farm Credit Administration on behalf of the United States. It was nonvoting and no dividends could be paid on it. Each regional bank was required to retire each year an amount of class A stock at least equivalent to the amount of class C stock issued for that year, except that there was not to be included in this calculation class C stock issued on account of class C stock issued to it by the Central Bank for Cooperatives, or issued in exchange for class C stock the proceeds of which were used to retire an equivalent amount of class A stock, or issued in exchange for capital stock of the bank outstanding on the effective date of Title I of the Farm Credit Act of 1955 (January 1,1956).
17. The class B stock could be issued at par to any person. It was nonvoting and could pay dividends of not to exceed 4 percent per annum of its par value. It could be called for retirement at par, in the order of its issuance, but only after the retirement of all class A stock.
18. Class C stock, except upon authorization of the board of directors of the Springfield Bank (or any other regional bank) and approval of the Farm Credit Administration, could be issued or transferred only to farmers' cooperative associations. It could be issued at no more than its $100 par value and could pay no dividends. Each holder of class C stock was entitled to no more than one vote, regardless of the number of shares held. Each borrower from the Springfield Bank was required to own at the time the loan was made at least one share of class C stock, and was also required to invest quarterly in class C stock an amount equal to not less than 10 nor more than 25 percent, as prescribed by the board of directors of the bank with the approval of the Farm Credit Administration, of the amount of interest payable by it to the bank during the calendar quarter. In the discretion of the board of directors of the bank, class C stock could be retired at par, in the order of its issuance. But class C stock issued for any fiscal year could be retired only after all class A stock had been retired and all class B stock issued during or prior to that fiscal year had been called for retirement. Each regional bank had a first lien on class C stock as collateral for the owner's indebtedness to the bank, and could retire the class C stock of a defaulting borrower, at par, in total or partial liquidation of such indebtedness.
19. Prior to the organization of the Farm Credit Administration and the system of banks for cooperatives, farmers generally as well as farmers' cooperatives encountered severe difficulties in securing adequate commercial credit at reasonable interest rates.
These problems had not been solved in the administration by the Federal Farm Loan Board of the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916, 39 Stat. 360, enacted by Congress to provide loans by the Federal land banks on farm mortgage security to farmers and farmers' cooperatives. To improve and expand the sources of credit at reasonable rates to farm ers, and to stimulate the growth and development of farmers' cooperatives, Congress enacted the Farm Credit Act of 1933, 48 Stat. 257, which established the system of banks for cooperatives as part of the overall structure of the Farm Credit Administration. This agency in considerably expanded form succeeded to the functions of the previous Federal Farm Loan Board. Thereafter, Congress enacted the Farm Credit Act of 1955, 69 Stat. 655, amending the 1933 act by providing for the various classes of stock in the banks for cooperatives, as above-described.
20. Banks for cooperatives have consistently provided lower interest rates to farmers' cooperatives than could have been obtained on similar loans at commercial banks. For example, farm customers were charged interest rates on mortgage and production loans by the banks for cooperatives and by commercial banks in various years as follows:
[In percent]
Year Banks for cooperatives Mortgage Production Commercial banks Mortgage Production
1933.. 4 4.5 6.6 7.6
1934.. 3 4 6.4 7.5
1935.. 2 4 6.3 7.4
1949.. 2.25 4 5.3 7.4
1960.. 4.75 5.75 6.0 6.9
From fiscal year 1956 through fiscal year 1967, the Springfield Bank was prohibited by federal law from charging interest on its loans in excess of 6 percent per annum. The record does not show that plaintiff received any special services other than the lending of money from the Springfield Bank.
21. As of December 31, 1955, the balance sheet of the Springfield Bank for Cooperatives showed investment by the United States in its class A stock in the amount of $6,600,-000. By June 30, 1959, $875,600 of class A stock had been redeemed by the bank so that the defendant's holdings of class A stock was reduced to $5,724,400. And by June 30, 1965, $2,275,000 of additional class A stock had been redeemed by the Springfield Bank, further reducing the defendant's investment in that bank to $3,449,000. During the same time, the acquisition of class C stock by farmers' cooperatives increased from about $154,000 as of June 30, 1956, to over $4,000,000 as of June 30,1965.
The initial stock subscription by the defendant was $5,000,000 for each of the 12 regional banks for cooperatives, for a total of $60,000,000; and an additional $50,000,000 for the Central Bank for Cooperatives. Thus the defendant had an original investment of $110,000,000 in the banks for cooperatives as they were established under the Farm Credit Act of 1933.
22.The following schedule sets forth, as of June 30 of each of the years 1956 through 1965, the relationship of class C stock owned by all cooperatives in the Springfield Bank for Cooperatives to the total of class A and B stock of that bank outstanding:
Fiscal year ending June 30 Class C stock owned by all cooperatives Class A stock Class B stock Total class A and class Bstock Ratio of classC stocktoclassA and B stock
1956. $153,545.60 $6,497,600 $809,036.26 $7,306,636.26 0.021
1957. 577,527.93 6,212,400 806,980.38 7,019,380.38 . 082
1958_ 973,444.84 5,985,400 841,880. 16 6,827,280.16 .143
1959. 1,387,445.20 5,724,400 840,058.34 6,564,458.34 . 211
1960. 1,781,633.25 5,442,400 835,204.25 6,277,604.25 . 284
1961..... 2,127,463.09 5,129,400 814,391.81 5,943,791.81 .358
1962. 2,561,438.04 4,807,400 812,691.81 5,620,091.81 .456
1963. 3,065,796.77 4,366,400 812,691.81 5,179,091.81 .592
1964_ 3,623,383.56 3,897,400 725,327.93 4,622,727.93 .784
1965... 4,178,719.90 3,449,400 596,869.84 4,046,269,84 1.033
The retirement of class A stock in the period from January 1, 1956, the effective date of the act authorizing the three classes of stock, to June 80, 1959, was in the amount of $875,600, or at an average rate of about $245,000 per year.
23. From the foregoing schedule, it is apparent that as of June 30,1958, the Springfield Bank had issued and outstanding about $7,800,000 par value of class A, B, and C stock, all of which would have had to be retired before any of the class C stock issued in fiscal 1959.
24. In July 1967, the class C stock of the Springfield Bank issued in fiscal years 1956 and 1957 was retired. However, as of June 30,1959, there was no evidence of any trend toward annual retirements of class A stock which would be larger than those which had occurred during the preceding 4 years.
25. Upon liquidation or dissolution of the Springfield Bank, after payment of all liabilities and retirement of all capital stock at par, the bank's surpluses and contingency reserves existing on January 1, 1956, would be shared pro rata by the class A stock, the class C stock, and any old stock (stock issued prior to January 1, 1956) outstanding immediately before such liquidation or dissolution. The amount of such surpluses and contingency reserves of the Springfield Bank was $4,418,800.
26. On June 30,1959, the liquidation or dissolution of the Springfield Bank in the foreseeable future was extremely unlikely for a number of reasons, including the fact that the Springfield Bank and the other banks for cooperatives, were jointly and severally liable on $284,500,000 of consolidated debentures issued by the banks.
27. Since the class A and class B stockholders have no voting rights, the class C stockholders are the only stockholders with power to elect members to the board of directors of the bank. Prior to 1964, the holders of class C stock of the Springfield Bank could elect only one of the seven directors of that Bank, and since 1964 they have been able to elect two of the seven directors of the bank. The other five members of the board are elected by the local district Production Credit Associations (two members), and the local district Federal Land Bank Associations (two members), with the seventh member being appointed by the Governor of the Farm Credit Administration.
28. As in the case of all of the banks for cooperatives, the profits of the Springfield Bank, to the extent they exceeded certain amounts specified by statute, were required by law to be distributed to borrowers as patronage refunds, in the form of class C stock, not in proportion to the class C stock owned by each borrower, but in the proportion that the amount of interest on the loans of each borrower bore to the total interest earned on the loans of all borrowers during the fiscal year. This was in accordance with the cooperative principle that those who make use of the cooperative's facilities, and hence, bear the costs of operation, should be able to reduce their costs by receiving a portion of the cooperative's profits allocated on a patronage or use basis.
29. The method of financing most used in financing farmers' cooperatives in the United States has been the "revolving fund method" of financing. Under this method, the members of a farmers' cooperative put money into the cooperative's "revolving fund" to serve as its functioning capital. After a certain number of years, the first year's capital is returned to the member and is replaced by later capital advanced by various members using and receiving the benefits of the cooperative at a later date. The revolving fund is an ongoing operation and provides a continuous cycle of capital funds from the cooperative's members to the cooperative and back again.
30. During the depression era of the 1930's, the leaders of the system of banks for cooperatives evolved a plan to retire government-owned stock by the use of a revolving fund plan. The underlying thesis of this plan was that a revolving fund basis of capitalization would be the most equitable way for farmers to finance their own institutions.
31. After a number of years of consideration, Congress enacted the Farm Credit Act of 1953, 67 Stat. 390, which established the Federal Farm Credit Board to (a) exercise general direction and supervision over the performance of the banks for cooperatives system and to (b) consider and make recommendations to Congress on the best means for eventually retiring the remaining government capital out of the Farm Credit system.
32. The Farm Credit Act of 1953 set out as (the policy of Congress the need for facilitating complete ownership and participation by farmers' cooperatives in the banks for cooperatives system as well as in other institutions engaged in providing agricultural credit. In the words of the statute (Farm Credit Act of 1953,67 Stat. 390, Sec. 2) :
DECLARATION OE POLICY
Sec. 2. It is declared to be the policy of the Congress to encourage and facilitate increased borrower participation in the management, control, and ultimate ownership of the permanent system of agricultural credit made available through institutions operating under the supervision of the Farm Credit Administration, and the provisions of this Act shall be construed in keeping with this policy. The Federal Farm Credit Board hereinafter provided for shall within one year after appointment make recommendations to the Congress of means, supplemental to those provided by this Act, of carrying into effect such declared policy, including, but not limited to, means of increasing borrower participation in ownership of the Federal Farm Credit System to the end that the investment of the United States in the Federal intermediate credit banks, production credit corporations, Central Bank for Cooperatives, and regional banks for cooperatives may be retired.
33. Pursuant to the recommendations of the Federal Farm Credit Board, Congress enacted the Farm Credit Act of 1955, sufra, which provided a comprehensive plan for the retirement of govermnent-owned capital from the banks for cooperatives.
34. Under the Farm Credit Act of 1955, supra, complete ownership by the cooperatives of the banks for cooperatives system is to be accomplished by retiring government-owned (class A) stock in each bank annually in an amount substantially equivalent to the class C stock acquired by the borrowers during that year.
35. The Farm Credit Act of 1955 provided an opportunity for the then current stockholders to convert their stock to new class B (investment) stock and class C stock and to convert their existing loans to conform to the provisions of the act. By so conforming they would agree to make regular purchases of the class C stock as provided under the new act. Eighty-three percent of the cooperatives voluntarily converted their existing loans to the new basis and over 90 percent of the old stock owned by the cooperatives (which would ordinarily have been redeemed immediately when the outstanding loans were paid off) were converted to the new class B or C stock, which could not be converted upon repayment of the loan but remained under the revolving fund system and (under the new act) provided the financial basis for a farmer-owned system of banks for cooperatives.
36. In its annual reports to stockholders, the Springfield Bank for Cooperatives has consistently described the pur chases and ownership of class 0 stock by the farmers' cooperatives as investment capital.
37. In addition, the Springfield Bank for Cooperatives and the Farm Credit Administration have consistently treated the purchase of class C stock as representing the replacement of government capital with investment capital supplied by the borrowing cooperatives who benefit from the existence of the bank for cooperatives.
38. Plaintiff's expert witness, Charles Archibald McVittie, who has had many years of experience in the valuation of securities, concluded that the class C stock of the Springfield Bank had a fair market value on June 30,1959, of approximately $6 a share. He reasoned that an owner of such stock could hope to realize no more than the $100 per share par value of the stock and that he could expect to receive this amount only upon retirement of the stock which would probably occur in approximately 30 years. He arrived at the 30-year period by dividing the total amount of class A, class B, and class C stock outstanding on June 30, 1959 (approximately $7.9 million, of which the most recent $400,000 represented class C stock issued in the fiscal year 1959) by the amount of class A stock retired in 1959 ($261,000). Then, by using a discount rate of 10 percent, compounded annually, he reduced to its present fair market value the right to receive $100, 30 years in the future. The 10 percent discount rate represented his judgment as to the minimum rate of return which an investor in common stocks would expect, in June 1959, to earn on his investment. He relied on the fact that Moody's Composite Index of Common Stocks showed a rate of appreciation (not including dividends) for the period 1954 through 1959 of approximately 13 percent per year, compounded annually. He also noted that a study prepared by the Graduate 'School of the University of Chicago showed that all stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange realized appreciation (including reinvestment of dividends) from 1955 to 1959 at the rate of approximately 13 percent per annum compounded annually.
39. Plaintiff's expert witness, William J. Fields, who has had some 34 years of experience with Agway, Inc., 14 of them as its principal financial officer, concluded that the class C stock of the Springfield Bank had a fair market value, on June 30,1959, "somewhere in the range of $6.90 a share." He determined that on June 30, 1959, the retirement of class C stock issued in that year could reasonably be expected to occur in approximately 31 years. He arrived at that figure by dividing $7.9 million (the approximate amount of class A, class B, and class C stock of the Springfield Bank outstanding on June 30,1959) by $250,000, which was the approximate average rate of retirement of class A stock over the period 1956 through 1959. In order to reduce to its present fair market value the right to receive the $100 par value of a share of class C stock 31 years hence, he used a discount factor of 9 percent per annum compounded annually. In his judgment, based on his actual experience in corporate finance and the investment of corporate funds, and upon his reading in the field, he concluded that the absolute return (appreciation plus dividends) on equity investments from 1920 through 1959 was somewhere in the neighborhood of 9 percent per annum compounded annually. Accordingly, he concluded that this return was what an investor, in June 1959, would except from an investment in common stock made at that time. Applying this discount rate to reduce to its present value the right to receive $100,31 years from now, Mr. Melds arrived at a figure of $6.91.
40. In June 1959, an investor in common stocks could reasonably expect a return (including dividends plus appreciation in value) of 9 to 10 percent per annum compounded annually on an investment in common stocks made at that time.
41. On the basis of the information then available, it would have been reasonable to expect on June 30, 1959, that class C stock of the Springfield Bank issued on that date would not be retired for approximately 30 years.
42. The defendant's witness on the valuation of class C stock was Mr. Martin Planting, Chief Economist, Farm Credit Administration. He testified that such stock had "philosophical" or "intangible" value in excess of $6 per share, but conceded that he meant that the bank itself, rather than its class C stock, had such value to its borrowers. He stated that he would not advise a cooperative to purchase, either for investment or for any other purpose, any class C stock in the Springfield Bank for Cooperatives at $100 a share, beyond the one share which such cooperative would need in order to qualify as a borrower pursuant to the law. In response to leading questions, he reluctantly concluded that "in terms of the economic benefits," the class C stock was worth its par value, but it is obvious from his overall testimony that he assigned no commercial value to such stock.
43. All cooperatives owning class C stock of the Springfield Bank are entitled to the same rights and privileges with respect to their dealings with the bank, regardless of the number of such shares held by them.
44. There have been no sales of class C stock of the Springfield Bank. Plaintiff did not believe there was a market for such stock, and has never been approached by anyone seeking to acquire such stock.
45. On June 30, 1959, the fair market value of the class C stock of the Springfield Bank purchased by plaintiff during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1959, was $6.90 per share.
Conclusion or Law
Based upon the foregoing findings of fact and opinion, which are adopted by the court and made a part of the judgment herein, the court concludes as a matter of law that plaintiff is entitled to recover, and that judgment should be entered for plaintiff in the sum of $113, plus interest as provided by law.
The principle of one vote per shareholder, regardless of the number of shares held, is characteristic of farmers' cooperative organizations, in conformity with the Capper-Volstead Cooperative Marketing Associations Act, 42 Stat. 388, which exempted farmers and their cooperative marketing associations from prosecution for acting in restraint of trade, provided inter alia that no member of such a cooperative be allowed more than one vote, regardless of the amount of stock held by him.
It is obvious that tbe tax court allowed deductions from income with respect to FNMA stock which the taxpayer purchased during but still held after the taxable years in suit, and thus impliedly held that the tax treatment accorded was not dependent upon a sale or exchange of such stock by the taxpayer.
In Section 8 of Public Law No. 86-779, 86th Cong., 2d Sess., September 14, 1960, 1960-2 Cum. Bull. 709, 713, Congress added § 162(d) to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, effective for taxable years beginning after 1959, which specifically provides that whenever the amount of required capital contributions to FNMA exceeds the fair market value of the FNMA stock as of its issue date, the purchaser of such stock shall treat the excess as deductible ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred during the taxable year in carrying on a trade or business. The Committee reports expressly stated that "Viewed from such a taxpayer's standpoint, the excess appears clearly«to be expenditures which he must incur In order to sell the mortgage paper he holds." H.R. Rep. No. 1662, 86th Cong. 2d Sess. 3 (1960), 1960-2 C.B. 816, 818; S. Rep. No. 1767, 86th Cong. 2d Sess. 8 (1960), 1960-2 C.B. 829, 834. This legislative characterization precisely fits the situation in the instant case.
Mississippi Chemical Corp. v. United States, S.D. Miss. decided February 14, 1969, 69-1 U.S.T.C., par. 9266, now on appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, has recently held the same deduction allowable as interest.