Eberl's Claim Service, Inc. - Page 32




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          earnings Carey said it would have been reasonable for petitioner            
          to have ($2 million).  Applying Carey's analysis to fiscal year             
          1993, reasonable compensation to Eberl could be as much as                  
          $1,080,000 (the difference between the amount petitioner paid               
          Eberl ($2,080,000) and the amount of retained earnings Carey said           
          would have been reasonable for petitioner to have ($1 million)).            
               Other facts present here support a finding that compensation           
          to Eberl in excess of those amounts would be unreasonable.  Eberl           
          set his own compensation, which was not the result of an arm's-             
          length agreement; petitioner retained a minimal amount of                   
          earnings and distributed almost all of its profits to Eberl at              
          the end of the year; and petitioner's other employees and                   
          independent adjusters did not receive yearend bonuses.  These               
          facts suggest that a substantial part of Eberl's compensation was           
          a disguised dividend and not purely for services.  We conclude              
          that $2,340,000 for fiscal year 1992 and $1,080,000 for fiscal              
          year 1993 constituted reasonable compensation to Eberl for those            
          years.  See Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. v. Commissioner, 61 T.C. at             
          568 (the Court must decide the amount of reasonable compensation            
          where the taxpayer proves the Commissioner's determination to be            
          wrong).                                                                     











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