- 11 - other courts. Caplin v. United States, supra at 547; Gordon v. Commissioner, supra at 637-638. We conclude that the disability provision in the Hadd-Too Plan was merely one of several events that could trigger a participant's claim to accrued retirement benefits. Petitioners have simply failed to meet their burden of proving by "clear indicia" that the Plan was intended to serve the dual purpose of providing accident or health benefits as well as retirement benefits. Accordingly, the $1,027,229.45 distribution received by Mr. Hall is taxable as deferred compensation and not excludable from gross income as accident or health benefits under section 105. Even if the Hadd-Too Plan had constituted a dual purpose plan, the distribution in question fails to meet the requirement of section 105(c)(2) that the amount of any payment be computed with reference to the nature of the injury. This requirement is met only if the plan varies the benefits according to the type and severity of the taxpayer's injury. Berman v. Commissioner, 925 F.2d at 940; Rosen v. United States, 829 F.2d 506, 509-510 (4th Cir. 1987); Beisler v. Commissioner, 814 F.2d 1304, 1308 (9th Cir. 1987), affg. T.C. Memo. 1985-25; Hines v. Commissioner, 72 T.C. 715, 720 (1979). Rather than computing benefits with reference to the type and severity of the injury, the Hadd-Too Plan, upon a showing of a total disability, determines the benefits solely on the basisPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011