- 48 - formed a corporation to develop and improve the property and assigned his interest in the lease to the corporation. Id. at 914. The taxpayer reported his share of the gains realized by the trust upon disposition of the lots as capital gains. Id. at 915. The Court held that the taxpayer and the developer had entered into a joint venture for the purpose of subdividing, developing, and selling the land. Id. at 916. Since the activities of the developer and his corporation constituted a trade or business, the Court found that the taxpayer, as a member of the joint undertaking, was similarly engaged and, thus, held the property for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. Id. at 917. Accordingly, the Court held that the income realized from the venture must be taxed at ordinary rates. Id. In these cases, petitioner and Mr. Dixon undertook the improvement of the Moonlight Beach property and the sale of those improvements to the public in the form of time- share memberships in the club. In order to obtain permanent financing for the project, they agreed between themselves to purchase any unsold club memberships and continued to market them to the public. In effect, each of them agreed to continue the activities of the joint venture in his individual capacity. Respondent concedesPage: Previous 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 Next
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