Bemidji Distributing Co., Inc. - Page 28




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          agreement and covenant should be treated as a constructive                  
          dividend to Mr. Langdon.                                                    
               In determining whether an expenditure by a corporation                 
          represents a constructive dividend to the shareholder, it is also           
          necessary to decide whether the expenditure primarily benefited             
          the shareholder personally rather than furthered the interest of            
          the corporation.  Hagaman v. Commissioner, 958 F.2d 684, 690-691            
          (6th Cir. 1992), affg. on this issue T.C. Memo. 1987-549; Ireland           
          v. United States, 621 F.2d 731, 735 (5th Cir. 1980); see also               
          Loftin & Woodard, Inc. v. United States, 577 F.2d 1206, 1214 (5th           
          Cir. 1978); Hood v. Commissioner, 115 T.C. 172, 179-180 (2000)              
               Where the expenses are those of the shareholder, the showing           
          a corporation must make to deduct those expenses is a strong one.           
          To avoid constructive dividend treatment, the taxpayer must show            
          that the corporation primarily benefited from the payment of the            
          shareholder's expenses.  Hood v. Commissioner, supra at 181.                
               In the instant cases, BDC did not require Mr. Langdon to pay           
          his pro rata share of the transaction's selling expenses.  Mr.              
          Langdon received $200,000 for his consulting agreement and                  
          $334,000 for the covenant, or a total of $534,000 of the                    
          $2,017,461 total purchase price.  Petitioners have not addressed            
          this issue, either at trial or on brief; we thus deem the issue             
          waived.  We hold that BDC's payment of the selling expenses                 
          allocable to Mr. Langdon's consulting agreement and covenant                






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