- 4 - the payments will be includable in income under section 61(a)(1). Paula Constr. Co. v. Commissioner, 58 T.C. 1055, 1059 (1972), affd. without published opinion 474 F.2d 1345 (5th Cir. 1973). Because petitioner is a shareholder of HIEI, it is also possible that the distributions might be considered to be constructive dividends. Constructive dividends can be identified when value passes from the corporation to the shareholder without the shareholder's giving something of substantially equivalent value in return. United States v. Smith, 418 F.2d 589, 593 (5th Cir. 1969). Neither party alleges the distributions are constructive dividends, and we find that the record does not support such a finding. See Alterman Foods, Inc. v. United States, 505 F.2d 873, 875 (5th Cir. 1974). We therefore limit our analysis to whether there was the requisite intent for the payments to constitute compensation for services, or whether, as petitioners contend, the distributions were bona fide loans. We note that we have always examined transactions between closely held corporations and their shareholders with special scrutiny. Electric & Neon, Inc. v. Commissioner, 56 T.C. 1324, 1339 (1971), affd. without published opinion sub nom. Jiminez v. Commissioner, 496 F.2d 876 (5th Cir. 1974). As previously stated, in deciding whether the payments were disguised compensation for services, we look to the intent of the parties. Paula Constr. Co. v. Commissioner, supra at 1059. Whether suchPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011