- 329 -
Thus, we must first determine whether the fees are Kanter's
income. We must consider all the facts and circumstances to
determine the actual earner of income. See Leavell v.
Commissioner, 104 T.C. 140, 155 (1995). From 1981 through 1986,
a number of entities paid substantial commitment fees to Century
Industries. The Kanters contend that Century Industries required
the entities to pay the partnership the commitment fees for the
partnership to consider investing in a proposed transaction. The
evidence, however, shows that the payments made by the entities
were for services provided by Kanter and Weisgal to the entities
and that the services were unrelated to any investments made by
Century Industries. For example, Satcorp agreed to pay Century
Industries $100,000 plus stock in Satcorp to acquire Kanter's and
Weisgal's services as "so-called financial engineers" to assist
in the structuring of a limited partnership and the sale of the
units in the partnership.
The evidence shows that the commitment fees were paid for
professional and promotional services rendered by Kanter and
Weisgal to the entities that paid the fees. The November 20,
1984, letter from Weisgal to John Geocaris requests that the fees
were for special tax and consulting services. The letter states
that "Burt and I have gotten our thoughts together and reviewed
all of our records regarding the time that we have spent from
inception of our conversations through October 31, 1984." Kanter
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