Choate Construction Co. - Page 20

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                  5.    Petitioner's Financial Condition                                                 
                  The past and present financial condition of a company is                               
            relevant to deciding whether compensation was reasonable.  Home                              
            Interiors & Gifts, Inc. v. Commissioner, supra at 1157-1158.                                 
                  Respondent concedes that petitioner had become financially                             
            successful by 1992.  Respondent points out that petitioner's                                 
            gross and net profit margins for the fiscal year ending June 30,                             
            1992, were 8.6 percent and 1.3 percent, which is less than the                               
            average of 9.8 and 1.6 percent for commercial construction                                   
            contractors with receipts of $10 to $50 million, according to                                
            Robert Morris Associates (RMA) data.  We give this RMA data                                  
            little weight because we doubt that the companies on which it is                             
            based were in only their third year of operation.                                            
                  This factor favors petitioner.                                                         
                  6.    Comparison of Salaries Paid With Sales and Net Income                            
                  Courts have compared sales and net income to amounts of                                
            compensation in deciding whether compensation is reasonable.                                 
            Mayson Manufacturing Co. v. Commissioner, supra.  Respondent                                 
            concedes that Choate's compensation was a small percentage of                                














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