- 26 - TYE 8/31/88, $702,000 in TYE 8/31/90, and $306,000 in TYE 8/31/91. Discussion Section 531 imposes a penalty tax on the accumulated taxable income of a corporation that is availed of for the purpose of avoiding tax with respect to its shareholders by permitting earnings and profits to accumulate instead of distributing them. Secs. 531, 532(a). The fact that earnings and profits have accumulated beyond the reasonable needs of the business establishes a presumption that tax avoidance was a purpose of the accumulation. Sec. 533(a). The reasonable needs of the business include reasonably anticipated future needs. Sec. 1.537-1(a), Income Tax Regs. In order to justify an accumulation for reasonably anticipated future needs, in general, the corporation must demonstrate a need warranting such accumulation and the existence, as of the end of the relevant taxable year, of specific, definite, and feasible plans to use the accumulation within a reasonable time to meet this need. Sec. 1.537-1(b), Income Tax Regs. In recognition of the informality which commonly characterizes planning within a closely held corporation, neither the regulations nor the cases require meticulously drawn formal blueprints for action. Faber Cement Block Co. v. Commissioner, 50 T.C. 317, 332 (1968); Bremerton Sun Publishing Co. v. Commissioner, 44 T.C. 566, 584-585 (1965). But where such documentation is lacking, the intention to dedicatePage: Previous 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Next
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