Hospital Corporation of America and Subsidiaries - Page 24

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          Petitioners maintain that the acoustical ceilings involved in the           
          subject category are analogous to the vault doors, walk-up and              
          drive-up teller's windows, and teller's booth installed by a bank           
          which respondent held constituted tangible personal property                
          within the meaning of section 1.48-1(c), Income Tax Regs.,                  
          because their removal would not affect the continued operation of           
          the bank building as a building, even though their removal would            
          necessitate making repairs to the building and could affect the             
          continued operation of the bank's business.  Rev. Rul. 65-79,               
          1965-1 C.B. 26.                                                             
               We conclude that the acoustical ceilings are not materially            
          distinguishable from the false ceilings described in Metro Natl.            
          Corp. v. Commissioner, supra, or the suspended ceilings depicted            
          in Texas Instruments, Inc. v. Commissioner, supra.  Movability is           
          only one characteristic to be considered in determining whether             
          property is a structural component.  Everhart v. Commissioner, 61           
          T.C. 328, 331 (1973).  We are persuaded that the acoustical                 
          ceilings were designed and intended to be a permanent part of the           
          buildings and that their removal would affect the operation of              
          the buildings in which they were installed.  We do not think that           
          the incidental benefit of trapping some dust and dirt and                   
          providing sound reduction is sufficient to convert the ceilings             
          into assets accessory to petitioners' healthcare business as                
          petitioners contend they are.  The acoustical ceilings serve a              





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