- 9 - answered by reference to all of the evidence, with the burden on the taxpayer to establish that the advance was a loan. Rule 142(a); Dixie Dairies Corp. v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 476, 493 (1980); Yale Avenue Corp. v. Commissioner, 58 T.C. 1062, 1073- 1074 (1972). Advances to a closely held corporation by its shareholders are subject to particular scrutiny, since "The absence of arm's-length dealing provides the opportunity to contrive a fictional debt shielding the real essence of the transaction and obtaining benefits unintended by the statute." Gilboy v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1978-114. Thus, we look beyond the form of the transaction to determine its true substance. Courts have identified and considered various factors in deciding questions of debt versus equity. See, e.g., In re Uneco, Inc., supra at 1207-1208 (10 factors); Fin Hay Realty Co. v. United States, 398 F.2d 694, 696 (3d Cir. 1968) (16 factors). The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, to which an appeal of this case would lie, has adopted the objective factors set forth in Estate of Mixon v. United States, 464 F.2d 394 (5th Cir. 1972). See In re Lane, 742 F.2d 1311 (11th Cir. 1984); Stinnett's Pontiac Serv., Inc. v. Commissioner, 730 F.2d 634 (11th Cir. 1984), affg. T.C. Memo. 1982-314. In Estate of Mixon, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit delineated the following 13 elements which merit consideration in determining whether an advance constitutes debtPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
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