- 7 - (13) the risk involved in making the advances. Dixie Dairies Corp. v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 476, 493 (1980). No single factor is controlling, nor is each equally significant, or even relevant, in the circumstances of a particular case. Id. at 493-494. Our task is not to count factors, but to evaluate them. Slappey Drive Ind. Park v. United States, 561 F.2d 572, 581 (5th Cir. 1977). "Each case turns on its own facts; differing circumstances may bring different factors to the fore." Id. The 1981 transaction must be measured by objective tests of economic reality, and the touchstone of economic reality is whether an outside lender would have made a loan to Associates in the same form and on the same terms as the 1981 transaction. Segel v. Commissioner, supra at 828. The entire record must be considered, especially where, as here, the person in control of the nominal debtor is also the nominal creditor, and the arm's-length dealing that characterizes the money market is absent. Road Materials, Inc. v. Commissioner, supra at 1124. In distinguishing between loans to a corporation and contributions to its capital, courts have noted that a creditor avoids subjecting funds advanced to the risk of the business insofar as possible and seeks a reliable return, while a shareholder places an investment at that risk and obtains a return from the business' success. Slappey Drive Indus. Park v. United States, supra at 581; Jewell Ridge Coal Corp. v.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
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