455 F.2d 993 | Ct. Cl. | 1972
Lead Opinion
This case was referred to Trial Commissioner James F. Davis with directions to make findings of fact and recommendation for conclusions of law under the order of reference and Buie 134(h). The commissioner has done so in an opinion and report filed on October 28, 1970. The plaintiff filed exceptions to the commissioner’s opinion with respect to the rail salvage issue and the vacation pay accrual issue. The defendant filed exceptions to the commissioner’s opinion regarding the issues of donated property depreciation, casualty loss, welded rail, protective facilities, and the Mexican tax credit. Both parties requested review of the commissioner’s opinion. The case has been submitted to the court on oral argument of counsel and the briefs of the parties. Since the court agrees with the commissioner’s opinion, findings of fact and recommended conclusion of law, with certain modifications, as hereinafter set forth, it hereby adopts the same, as modified, as the basis for its judgment in this case.
Commissioner Davis’ opinion, as modified by the court, is as follows:
This is a suit to recover income taxes paid for the year 1955. Plaintiff operates a railroad as a common carrier in interstate commerce, subject to the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Plaintiff’s petition raised six issues with respect to a claim for refund timely filed with, and ultimately denied by, the District Director of Internal Eevenue at Chicago, Illinois. In its answer and first amended answer, defendant asserted four setoff defenses, pursuant to Missouri Pacific B.R. v. United States, 168 Ct. Cl. 86, 338 P. 2d 668 (1964). Before trial, defendant dropped one of the setoff defenses; and by pretrial stipulation, the parties resolved one issue raised in the petition.
DONATED PROPERTY DEPRECIATION ISSUE
Starting about 1930, plaintiff entered into many agreements with several midwestern states for construction of highway overpasses and underpasses at highway-railroad intersections, and grade-crossing protection equipment, such as flashing-light signals and automatic gates. Though the agreements are not identical, generally plaintiff agreed to perform a large share of the construction work and the states agreed to pay most of the cost. Sometimes, part of the work
Most of the agreements did not state expressly whether the respective state governments or plaintiff was to have legal title to the facilities. However, the parties have stipulated that the facilities (jetties, bridges, highway undercrossings and overcrossings, floodlights, flasher signals, and signs) were “contributed” to plaintiff by the states; and this is taken to mean that plaintiff owns them, at least for purposes here material. See Lazarus, infra. In any event, under all the agreements, plaintiff was obligated to maintain and replace as necessary, at its own expense, facilities originally built. The facilities were constructed primarily for the benefit of the public to improve safety and to expedite motor-vehicle traffic flow. The record shows, however, that plaintiff received economic benefits from the facilities, e.g., probable lower accident rates, reduced expenses of operating crossing equipment and, where permitted, higher train speed limits. Plaintiff also received intangible benefits, e.g., goodwill from the community-at-large, which was to plaintiff’s long-term economic advantage.
On February 5; 1943, plaintiff requested permission of the Service to change from retirement to depreciation accounting for road property. On April 23, 1943, the Service responded by letter to plaintiff’s request and enclosed Mimeo 58, entitled “Change from Eetirement to Depreciation Accounting for Eoad Property.” Mimeo 58 set out guidelines under which the changeover in accounting practice by the railroads would be acceptable to the Service and described information to be furnished by the railroads. Plaintiff thereafter furnished to the Service the required information which, in essence, constituted a list of properties subject to depreciation, their cost basis, salvage value, expired life,
Mimeo 58 provided in part that “Donated property or contributions or grants in aid of construction from any source must be excluded” from the depreciable base. This statement was not included in the terms letter. However, the schedules of plaintiff’s property, submitted to the Service for which straight line depreciation was requested, did not include the donated property here at issue.
Subsequently, on May 1, 1961, plaintiff submitted to the Service revised schedules for depreciable roadway property and requested the benefit of section 94 of the Retirement-Straight Line Adjustment Act of 1958. The Service responded to plaintiff’s request, noting the terms letter of September 20, 1944, and stating that plaintiff’s revised schedules were acceptable so far as relevant herein. The revised schedules of depreciable property submitted by plaintiff to the Service in 1961 did not include the donated property here at issue.
The issue is whether the facilities are assets properly de-preciable by plaintiff. Plaintiff contends they are property donated to it for use in its business and are depreciable under the rationale of Brown Shoe Co. v. Commissioner, 339 U.S. 583 (1950). Defendant concedes that the facilities are of a character normally subject to allowance for depreciation and
In Detroit Edison, the issue was whether the taxpayer could depreciate the cost of certain electric power lines. The taxpayer, Detroit Edison Company, engaged in the generation of electric power for distribution and sale to the public. It often received applications for service which, in its opinion, would require the construction of power line extensions having a cost not warranted by prospective revenues. Accordingly, the company required the applicants for service to pay the cost of line installations, in part refundable from future revenues collected. The company contended that, to the extent the cost of the lines was not refunded, the customers’ payments were gifts or contributions to the company’s capital and thus were depreciable to it as exhaustible capital assets. The Court held, however, that the payments were not gifts or contributions to the company’s capital but rather were payments for “the price of the service,” i.e., the providing by the company of electrical power to the customers. The Court said “[i]t is enough to say that it overtaxes imagination to regard the farmers and other customers who furnished these funds as makers either of donations or contributions to the Company.” Thus, the taxpayer was not permitted the depreciation deductions it sought.
In Brown Shoe, decided seven years after Detroit Edison, the issue was whether property, including buildings and
Plaintiff says that the facts here fit Brown Shoe rather than Detroit Edison. Plaintiff notes, among other things, that the facilities in issue are exhaustible assets used in plaintiff’s business, are of a character normally subject to depreciation allowance, and were contributed to plaintiff by state governments whose interest was not to obtain goods or services but rather to benefit the public as a whole. Plaintiff also notes, citing Edwards v. Cuba R.R., 268 U.S. 628, 633 (1925), that the facilities were contributed “unquestionably * * * to increase the capital position of the plaintiff taxpayer for only capital assets were contributed and not monies which could be used for the payment of dividends or expenses ordinarily payable out of earnings or income.” The court concludes that the plaintiff is correct; and although the facts are not
Defendant says that plaintiff “has no cost for these facilities and therefore does not stand to lose any portion of its investment by their use or the passage of time * * Plainly, there is no merit to this argument. In Brown Shoe, the taxpayer had no “cost” in the donated property; yet the property was held to be assets depreciable by the taxpayer. Defendant also says that the governmental payments for the facilities “were not intended to be contributions to the capital of the railroad,” but rather were “part of the cost of the state in building its highway system”; and that the facilities are “not related to the production of income but rather to the safety of the local community.” No doubt, the principal purpose of the facilities was to benefit the community-at-large by providing improved safety at railroad-highway intersections. But the fact remains that the facilities enlarged plaintiff’s working capital and were used by plaintiff in its business; and though they may not produce income to the same extent as other railroad property, such as track or freight cars, plaintiff derived economic benefits from them.
Of principal importance, under every contract for constructing the facilities, plaintiff was obligated to maintain and replace the facilities at its own expense. This obligation places squarely on plaintiff the economic loss attendant to wear and tear of the property. As noted in the McKay Products case, supra, at 643, cited in Brown Sk oe,
* * * the assets * * * are being used by the taxpayer in the operation of its business. They will in time wear out * * * and must eventually be replaced. Looking as they do toward business continuity, the Internal Revenue Code’s depreciation provisions * * * would seem to envision allowance of a depreciation deduction in situations like this * * *.
Also pertinent is Helvering v. F. & R. Lazarus & Co., 308 U.S. 252 (1939), and cases cited therein, which holds that depreciation deductions go to the party which “bears the burden
Defendant contends alternatively that, in accordance with the requirements of Mimeo 58 and the terms letter, plaintiff submitted schedules of its depreciable property which excluded the donated property here at issue from basis. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue accepted plaintiff’s proposed basis for its depreciable road property and permitted plaintiff to make the requested accounting change. Included in the terms letter were the amounts to be included in the cost basis of plaintiff’s various road accounts, together with the proviso that “the remaining sum to be recovered through depreciation allowances shall be limited to ithe cost or other basis less the depreciation so accrued * * Thus, says defendant, plaintiff agreed not to take any depreciation deductions based upon donated property.
Defendant also argues that the Retirement-Straight Line Adjustment Act of 1958 provides in section 94(e) that the terms and conditions of the terms letter would be binding on taxpayers such as plaintiff electing the benefits of that Act from the date of the terms letter until the date of such election.
Mimeo 58 provides in relevant part that:
The basis for depreciation shall be the cost of the existing depreciable property to the present taxpayer, determined in accordance with sections 113 and 114(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. * * *.
* * * * *
The basis may include only the investment in property which is actually depreciable. Thus excavations, dredging, expendable small tools, land improvements, land surveySj etc., are not depreciable expenditures, whereas retaining walls, drainage systems, etc., are. Donated property or contributions or grants in aid of construction from any source must be excluded.
# # ifc ifr if:
In view of the fact that it will be impossible for the Bureau to make a detailed investigation of the depreciation basis, the permission letter includes a mutual understanding that the basis may be corrected to conform to the allowable basis under the Internal Revenue Code*278 should subsequent investigation disclose errors of cost or valuation. * * *
The terms letter provides in relevant part:
It is mutually understood that this is an agreement in principle and that a detailed investigation of the depreciation basis has not been made by the Bureau, and that the basis may be corrected to conform to the allowable basis under the Internal Revenue Code should investigation disclose errors of cost or valuation. * * *
Defendant argues for too narrow an interpretation of Mimeo 58 and the terms letter. It seems clear that the purpose of the just-quoted provisions was to establish as the basis for depreciation of the road property the basis allowable under 'Sections 118 and 114(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939. The statement “Donated property or contributions or grants in aid of construction from any source must be excluded” was only the opinion of the Service with respect to what constituted the basis allowable under the Code and does not rise to the level of a condition upon which permission to change depreciation methods would be granted.
Even assuming that the statement “Donated property or contributions or grants in aid of construction from any source must be excluded” was 'a condition for the changeover, the provision that the basis for depreciation was to be determined in accordance with the Code should take precedence and control. As indicated, the Brown Shoe case, supra, held that certain donated property could be included in the depreciable base under Section 113(a) (8) (B) of the 1939 Code.
Furthermore, the 1944 terms letter itself, which constitutes the only agreement between the parties, says nothing about
Also, assuming again that the above statement was a condition for the changeover, that condition must be viewed in light of the law as it existed when the condition was accepted. As stated in Brown Shoe, supra, at 589, 591, it was the position of the Service that Detroit Edison Co. v. Commissioner, supra, settled the question that donated property could not be added to the basis for depreciation. When plaintiff accepted the terms letter in 1945, its acceptance provided that “in the event that if any of the terms and conditions stated in said letter should be changed by statutory amendment, by operation of law, or otherwise,” plaintiff would not be precluded “from the benefits of any such changes” and would be “entitled to the benefit of any such changes regardless of the acceptance herein contained.” The Supreme Court’s decision in Brown Shoe, supra, distinguishing the case of Detroit Edison, supra, and holding that certain donated property could be added to the depreciable base, produced such a change in the conditions of the terms letter and plaintiff is entitled to the benefits thereof.
In sum, the facilities in issue are exhaustible assets properly depreciable by plaintiff to the full extent of their value.
Casualty Loss Issue
In 1955,13 freight cars owned by plaintiff were destroyed in accidents while on lines of other railroads. The cars were property used in plaintiff’s business and were emergency facilities subject to rapid amortization (60 months) pursuant to § 124A of the 1939 Internal Revenue Code and § 168 of the 1954 Internal Revenue Code. The cars’ cost to plaintiff was
Plaintiff says the gain should be taxed as a capital gain, pursuant to § 1231 of the 1954 Code which provides in pertinent part:
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Defendant, on the other hand, says that the gain should be treated as ordinary income to the extent of the difference between the adjusted basis of the property under rapid amortization and what the adjusted basis would have been under normal depreciation. The parties have stipulated that under straight-line depreciation, the adjusted basis at the time of loss would have been $67,759.94. The difference in bases, therefore, is $28,639.22 ($67,759.94 less $39,120.72). Defendant relies on § 1238 of the 1954 Code which provides:
Gain from the sale or exchange of property, to the extent that the adjusted basis of such property is less than its adjusted basis determined without regard to section 168 (relating to amortization deduction of emergency facilities), shall be considered as gain from the sale or exchange of property which is neither a capital asset nor property described in section 1231. (Emphasis added.)
The parties agree that plaintiff’s gain resulted from involuntary conversion; that § 1231 applies to gains from “involuntary conversion” as well as “sales or exchanges”; but that § 1238 speaks only of gains from “sale or exchange.” That would appear to end the matter in plaintiff’s favor since it has long been held that an involuntary conversion is
Section 1238 is brief, clear and unambiguous. It was derived substantially unchanged from § 117 (g) (3) of the 1939 Code. The legislative history of § 117 (g) (3), enacted as part of the Revenue Act of 1950, shows that it was intended as a recapture provision to tax as ordinary income gains made upon the voluntary disposition (sale or exchange) of emergency facilities entitled to rapid amortization, to the extent such amortization reduced the basis of the property below normal depreciation. The Congressional committee report
Furthermore, the very structure of the statute militates against defendant’s position. Section 1231 speaks of gains from “sales or exchanges” and “involuntary conversion.” Yet § 1238, which qualifies § 1231 and refers expressly to it, speaks only of gains from “sale or exchange.” It therefore can hardly be inferred that Congress intended “sale or exchange” in § 1238 to include “involuntary conversion,” particularly in light of well-established judicial precedent that an involuntary conversion is not a sale or exchange. Flaccus, swpra.
Also pertinent to the construction of § 1238 and Congressional purpose for its enactment are §§ 1245 and 1250 of the 1954 Code, added in 1962 and 1964, respectively. Those sections are recapture provisions, akin to § 1238, but deal with gains made upon the disposition of depreciable property subject to normal depreciation, rather than rapid amortization. In general, §§ 1245 and 1250 provide that gains made upon the disposition of depreciable property, which gains exceed the adjusted basis of the property, shall be taxed as ordinary income rather than capital gains. Sections 1245 and 1250 both speak expressly of gains made upon “involuntary conversion,” as well as “sale or exchange.” The inference therefore is clear that when Congress intends recapture provisions to include gains from involuntary, as well as voluntary, dispositions, it so-provides. Section 1238 does not so-provide; and courts cannot rewrite tax laws, however appealing and logical it may be. See F. W. Fitch, Co. v. United States, 323 U.S. 582 (1945), Shakespeare Co. v. United States, 189 Ct. Cl. 411, 419 F. 2d 839 (1969), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 820 (1970).
Towanda and Kent, relied on by defendant, dealt with § 337 of the 1954 Code and the problem of gain derived by a corporation from an involuntary conversion during a period
The taxation of the gain derived from an involuntary conversion of the property into cash during liquidation is clearly contrary to the declared purpose of Congress in enacting the section [i.e., § 337], which was to avoid double taxation incident to the liquidation of the corporation, by exempting the corporation from liability for gain derived from the disposition of its capital assets, irrespective of whether or not certain formalities had been observed. Literally, an involuntary conversion is not a sale, but what Congress had in mind was a conversion of a corporation’s capital assets into cash, whether voluntary or involuntary, and the distribution of the cash to the stockholders. * * * The purpose was to exempt the corporation from liability for the tax and to collect the tax from the stockholders alone. This being true, we must hold, in order to carry out the clear purpose of Congress, that an involuntary conversion comes within the intent of Congress when it exempted the corporation from liability íor a tax on the gain derived from a sale of its property m liquidation.
The court in Kent agreed with this court’s reasoning in Towanda, noting that a purpose of § 337 was “to avoid double taxation.”
Defendant invites this court to construe § 1238 similarly to the way § 337 was construed in Towanda and Kent. In my view, this should not be done simply because (a) Towanda
In sum, the gain in question is taxable as a capital gain pursuant to § 1231 of the 1954 Code.
Welded Rail Issue and Bail Salvage Value Issue
These issues revolve around a method of accounting known as retirement-replacement-betterment accounting. Actually, retirement-replacement-betterment accounting is a shorthand term for three separate but interrelated accounting schemes— retirement accounting, replacement accounting and betterment accounting — -by which plaintiff and other railroads determine allowable depreciation for property in track accounts, particularly rail and joint materials (angle bars, bolts and washers). To understand the issues, it is necessary to discuss in some detail the theory and practice of retirement-replacement-betterment accounting.
Retirement accounting
Normally, in computing depreciation for an exhaustible asset, the cost (or other basis) of the asset, less its salvage value, is spread ratably over the asset’s useful life; and through annual depreciation charges, the cost is recouped. This means that the asset’s book value decreases from year to year as depreciation charges accumulate. Capital additions and improvements made to the asset from time to time during its service life are added to the book value and, in turn, are depreciated. The theory is that at t'he end of the asset’s useful life, the accumulated depreciation charges plus salvage value will equal original cost.
Retirement accounting, however, works differently. Bather than making annual adjustments for depreciation, the asset is carried on the books at its full value (usually cost) during its useful life. Then, at the time of retirement from service,
* * * the underlying theory of the retirement method is that the charges to expense on account of all the items retired or replaced in any particular year are taken as a rough equivalent of what would be a proper depreciation allowance for all the working assets of the company for that year. The assumption is that once the system is functioning normally and the retirements are staggered fairly regularly, the charges to expense on account of equipment wearing out or otherwise disappearing from service are spread out and stabilized, and hence will approximate the results under straight-line depreciation. * * *
Retirement accounting is used by the railroads for their track accounts principally because it simplifies the difficult bookkeeping problem of making annual depreciation adjustments for the large number of fungible assets in such accounts, i.e., rail and joint materials, and because it complies with the accounting requirements of the Interstate Commerce Commission as set out in the Uniform System of Accounts for Railroad Companies.
jReplacement accounting
Replacement accounting works hand-in-glove with retirement accounting. It arises when a retired asset, rather than simply being removed from service, is replaced by a like asset. From an accounting standpoint, a replacement transaction comprises two steps: the retirement of one asset and the addition (or replacement) of a like asset. Logically, the accounting treatment for such transaction should entail (a) charging off to current expense the book value of the retired asset, diminished by its salvage value, and (b) capitalizing the cost of the added (or replacing) asset. So treated, the books would tend to reflect, over the life of the account, the
On reflection, it can be seen that over a long period of years of no price inflation, it makes no difference from an accounting and depreciation standpoint whether a replacement transaction is handled in one or the other of the two above-noted fashions. To illustrate, assume a section of rail having an original cost of $1,000 is retired after 40 years and is replaced by a like section of rail costing $1,000, and that the salvage value of the retired rail is $200. Under either above-described method of replacement accounting, the book value of the rail in service remains $1,000 and the current charge to expense (representing depreciation) is $800 ($1,000 less $200). In contrast, over a period of substantial price inflation, it makes considerable difference which of the two methods is used. To illustrate, assume the same facts as above except that the cost of replacement, due to price inflation, is $2,000 rather than $1,000. Now, if the accounting transaction is handled by the first method, the charge to operating expense is still $800 ($1,000 less $200), and the $2,000 cost of replacement is capitalized to become the new book value of the rail in service. On the other hand, under plaintiff’s method, the $2,000 is currently expensed, less $200 salvage value for the retired rail, leaving a current charge (representing depreciation) of $1,800; and the book value of the rail in service remains $1,000.
Defendant has no quarrel with the way plaintiff chooses to
Betterment aceoimting
Betterment accounting works hand-in-glove with replacement and retirement accounting. It arises in one of two situations: (a) when additional rail is laid where no rail before existed, or (b) where rail laid in replacement is of heavier weight, and thus “better,” than rail being replaced. In the first situation, the current cost of laying additional rail is capitalized, and such cost thereafter remains on the books until the rail is retired. In the second situation, the cost of the “betterment” portion of the rail laid in replacement is capitalized, while the remainder of the cost, reduced by the salvage value of the replaced rail, is currently ex-pensed. To illustrate, if a section of 80-pound rail
Welded mil issue
In 1955, as part of a continuing program of track renewal, plaintiff replaced a number of 39-foot lengths of rail with 78-foot lengths of heavier-weight rail. The 39-foot lengths which were replaced were fastened together by angle bars
The dispute between the parties is whether plaintiff properly accounted for the cost of welding. Defendant says plaintiff should have capitalized the entire welding cost ($155,748), rather than only part of it ($14,940), because a welded joint constitutes a “betterment” over a bolted joint within the context of retirement-replacement-betterment accounting. Defendant relies on Eev. Eul. 67-22, 1967-1 Cum. Bull. 52, which, in essence, holds that under retirement-replacement-betterment accounting, the cost of welded joints, whether laid with new rail or replacement rail, must be capitalized because “welding of rail creates something new or better by substitution or addition of different materials, reduces track renewal cost, prolongs rail and rolling stock life, reduces maintenance costs, and increases the value of the track structure.” The Eevenue Euling notes § 263 of the Internal Eevenue Code (1954) which provides in pertinent part that no deductions shall be allowed for “any amount paid out * * * for permanent improvements or
Thus framed, it is important to point out that the issue is not whether the cost of replacing bolted joints with welded joints is a repair as opposed to a capital expenditure. The parties agree that the expense is capital in nature. The issue is simply whether welded joints, which replace bolted joints, are such an improvement or betterment to the track that their cost should be capitalized, rather than currently ex-pensed, in accordance with the method of retirement-replacement-betterment accounting used by plaintiff. Defendant agrees that if bolted joints are replaced by bolted joints, the cost of the replacement, less the salvage value of the replaced materials, is chargeable to current expense. Defendant says simply that welded joints are so different from bolted joints and are such an improvement over bolted joints that their cost must be fully capitalized and not charged to current expense until the welded rail is retired or replaced by other welded rail.
The issue boils down to an analysis of the differences between bolted joints and welded joints, both from a cost and technology standpoint. Functionally, the joints do the same job — they hold together the ends of pieces of rail so to make a continuous track structure. Thus, welded joints which replace bolted joints add no new or different function to the rail system. Bolted joints comprise a pair of angle bars which bridge the rail ends across the rails’ web and are fastened to the web by six bolts and washers. In 1955, it cost plaintiff about $10 to install a bolted joint, depending on the weight of the rail.
Welded joints, in contrast to bolted joints, are made by fusing together the ends of the rail under intense heat. No material is added to the rail. Bather, about % inch is lost off each rail during the welding process because the rail ends are forced together under pressure, thus creating a bead of raised metal at the weld which must be ground down to make a smooth joint. In 1955, it cost plaintiff $11.83 to make a welded joint. Welded joints do not require maintenance like bolted joints; and in fact the record shows that during the first 12 years of service of welded rail (1955-1967), welded joints required no substantial maintenance at all. However, the record also shows that welded joints are not an unmixed blessing. About 1967, welded joints installed on plaintiff’s main lines in 1955 exhibited serious wear and deterioration known as secondary batter. Secondary batter results from the fact that the fused metal at the weld is harder than the rail on either side of the weld. Thus, the joint wears less rapidly than the main rail. After extensive use and track wear, the metal adjacent either side of the weld tends to dish out as the wheels of railroad cars ride over the weld, i.e., the wheels tend to batter the track downstream of the weld. Secondary batter becomes progressively worse with time and particularly if trains run both directions on the track. Though no maintenance to correct secondary batter was done by plaintiff between 1955 and 1967, the record shows that substantial maintenance will be required soon and that such maintenance will be necessary from time to time during the 40-50 year useful life of the rail. The maintenance will involve grinding down the track and weld to eliminate dished-out areas, or in extreme cases, cropping out the damaged areas and rewelding the rail ends.
Against these facts, it must be concluded that the record does not support defendant’s position that welded joints vis-a-vis bolted joints constitute a “betterment” to the track system in terms of retirement-replacement-betterment ac
In sum, the proper accounting treatment should be as follows : The cost of welded joints laid in replacement should be charged to current expense (in the proper proportion as above noted), and the charge should be diminished by the salvage value of the replaced bolted joint materials. Thus, the original book value of the joint materials remains in the account; and the accounting transaction is fully consistent with the method used by plaintiff for other replacements.
Rail salvage value issue
To understand this issue, a brief discussion of plaintiff’s track renewal program will be helpful. Over the years and particularly with the advent of heavier rolling stock, plaintiff has sought to upgrade its track system by replacing lighter-weight rail with heavier-weight rail. Typically, the rail on main lines is replaced from time to time with heavier new rail; and the rail picked up off the main lines is used to
In accounting for track replacements under tbe Interstate Commerce Commission’s Uniform System of Accounts for Railroad Companies, plaintiff assigns on its books a salvage value to rail picked up. This salvage value is important because, as earlier discussed, the charge to current expense taken under retirement-replacement-betterment accounting for the cost of rail laid in replacement and rail retired without replacement is reduced by the salvage value of the replaced rail in order to arrive at a figure representing allowance for depreciation for Federal income tax purposes for the asset account as a whole. The salvage value assigned by plaintiff to rail picked up depends on whether the rail is to be scrapped or is to be relaid as reusable rail. In 1955 and for many years previous thereto (since about 1919), plaintiff has assigned the values of $17.86 per net ton for rail to be sold as scrap and $22.32 per net ton for reusable rail. Plaintiff does not explain how it arrived at these figures. However, a fair inference from the record is that $17.86 per net ton was the approximate price of scrap in the 1920’s; and $22.32 per net ton was a figure somewhere between the cost of new rail and scrap in the 1920’s, and thus was deemed to be the reasonable value of reusable rail. In 1919, the price of new rail was $35.83 per net ton; during the 1920’s, the price was about $38.
The issue here is the value to be assigned to reusable rail in 1955, to the extent that such rail was relaid as additions or betterments. Defendant says that $22.32 per net ton is unrealistically low because it represents a figure established many years ago when the cost of new rail and the price of scrap were but a fraction of their 1955 values. In 1955, new rail cost $93.70 per net ton and scrap sold for $43.75 per net
Plaintiff objects to defendant’s approach to the valuation problem. While conceding that $22.32 per net ton is unrealistically low, plaintiff contends that the proper value should be the lower of cost or fair market value.
At this juncture, it should be pointed out that defendant does not challenge the value which plaintiff assigned to scrap in 1955 ($17.86 per net ton) even though the price of scrap in that year was $43.75 per net ton. The reason for this is that plaintiff reports as income the difference between the assigned scrap value and the proceeds of scrap sales so that, as a practical matter, it makes no difference what the assigned value is. Thus, the net effect is that the entire $43.75 per net ton current scrap value goes to reduce the charges to expense for replacements and retirements without replacement. By the same token, if plaintiff had assigned to scrap in 1955 a value higher than $43.75, say for example $50.75, the $7 difference, upon disposition of the scrap, would be charged to current expense, thus reflecting the fact that the decrease to current expense representing the assigned salvage value of scrap had been too high. Furthermore, defendant does not challenge the value plaintiff assigned in 1955 to reusable rail which was picked up and then relaid as replacements in kind. On reflection, it can be seen that the reason for this is that whatever value was assigned washed out of the accounting because the value assigned on pickup, which went to reduce current expense, was the same as the value charged to current expense upon relay, thus a wash. Therefore, defendant’s only concern here, as noted earlier, is the value to be assigned to reusable rail laid as additions or betterments, for this value is capitalized on plaintiff’s books and no corresponding-charge to current expense is made until ultimate retirement.
After careful consideration of all the arguments in the parties’ extensive briefs, I am constrained to conclude that defendant’s position is the correct one. The evidence, including the testimony of expert accounting witnesses, persuades
Plaintiff’s argument that valuing reusable rail at current fair market value rather than historical cost results in taxation of unrealized appreciation is, at first blush, appealing but will not stand analysis for two reasons. First, under retirement-replacement-betterment accounting, as practiced by plaintiff, the value assigned to reusable rail is for the purpose of determining the extent to which the current charge to expense for replacements (and retirements without replacement) should be reduced, so to reflect a reasonable allowance for depreciation. Thus, although the net effect of valuing reusable rail at current fair market value rather than historical cost may result in less after-tax income to plaintiff, it does so not by taxing unrealized appreciation but simply
Furthermore, the requirement of the Interstate Commerce Commission’s Uniform System of Accounts for Eailroad Companies for valuing reusable rail is fully consistent with defendant’s proposition that reusable rail be assigned its current fair market value. Section 10.01-7 (d) of the Uniform System of Accounts for Eailroad Companies, in effect in 1955, defines “value of salvage,” stating that “when such material [e.g., rail] is retained and again used by the carrier [e.g., reusable rail], the value shall he determmed by deducting a fair allowance for depreciation from eurrent prices of the material as new." The plain meaning of this is that reusable rail in 1855 should be valued at somewhere between $93.70, the current price of new rail, and $43.75, the current price of scrap, so that its value represents the price of the material “as new” less “a fair allowance for depreciation.” Defendant’s method of estimating this value, i.e., halfway between the current prices of new rail and scrap, is reasonable and equitable since, on the average, reusable rail picked up by plaintiff from its lines has gone through about half its useful life. Plaintiff argues that new rail prices and scrap prices vary “due to wide fluctuations” and that it is not possible “on a current basis” to ascertain the average value. While the record shows that such prices do vary somewhat, the fluctuations in any given year are not so great as to make determination and use of a reasonable average an undue administrative burden. And, in any event, adjustments can be made at the end of any year to reflect the actual price experience for that year.
Plaintiff contends that if it is required to assign to reusable rail laid as additions and betterments in 1955 such rail’s fair market value, then it should be permitted to value scrap at the same figure. Thus, plaintiff argues, scrap should be valued at $69.40 per net ton so that upon disposition at $43.75 per net ton, it sustains a “loss,” which “loss,” says plaintiff, is “an offset against defendant’s offset.” This argument makes no sense within the context of retirement-replacement-betterment accounting as practiced by plaintiff. As earlier noted, the value plaintiff assigns to scrap at the time of pickup is, in reality, an interim figure which is adjusted depending upon the price for which scrap is actually sold. Thus, if scrap is
Finally, plaintiff contends that Eev. Eul. 67-145, supra, upon which defendant relies, is not applicable in this case because it was issued in 1967, well after the tax year in suit, and cannot be given retroactive effect. Eather, plaintiff says defendant should be bound by the letter of technical advice issued in 1964 with respect to the audit of plaintiff’s books for 1956-59. There is no merit to this argument. The Commissioner of Internal Bevenue is empowered retroactively to correct mistakes of law in the application of the tax laws to particular taxpayers. Dixon v. United States, 381 U.S. 68 (1965). Rev. Rul. 67-145, supra, supersedes and correctly overrules the letter of technical advice, and there was no abuse of discretion in applying it here in support of the Government’s setoff defense. Furthermore, plaintiff has shown no detrimental change of position in reliance on the letter of technical advice from which it can argue that retroactive application of the Eevenue Buling is inequitable.
To sum up: Plaintiff, in accounting for reusable rail picked up in 1955, must assign to such rail, to the extent it was laid as additions and betterments, its current fair market value in 1955, which equitably and for ease of calculation and administration is halfway between the cost of new rail and the price for scrap in 1955.
PROTECTIVE WORK ISSUE
In 1955, plaintiff carried out 28 construction projects (total cost: $121,026.70) directed to protecting and maintaining its rail embankments near waterways. The work was
Railroad embankments have an indefinite service life. Unless attacked by outside forces, they remain in serviceable condition so long as the railroad operates trains over its rail lines. Embankments near waterways are built originally by plaintiff using good engineering practices to provide permanent protection against water erosion. However, unforeseen and unforeseeable changes in waterflow patterns near the
Plaintiff contends that the costs of the projects here in issue are deductible as “ordinary and necessary” business expenses pursuant to § 162 of the 1954 Internal Revenue Code. Plaintiff says “the work done was in the nature of repairs and maintenance” in order to “maintain the * * * property [i.en the rail lines and embankments] in an ordinary efficient operating condition or to prevent the useful life from being shortened due to unusual circumstances.” Plaintiff points to Treas. Reg. § 1.162-4 which says in pertinent part that the cost of repairs “which neither materially add to the value of the property nor appreciably prolong its life but keep it in an ordinary efficient operating condition, may be deducted as an expense * * *.”
Defendant, on the other hand, says that the costs in issue must be capitalized pursuant to § 263 of the 1954 Code which provides in part that no deductions shall be allowed for “* * * any amount paid out for new buildings or for permanent improvements or betterments made to increase the value of any property or estate.” Defendant also relies on Treas. Reg. § 1.263 (a)-1 which provides in part that no deduction shall be allowed for “* * * amounts paid or incurred (1) to add to the value, or substantially prolong the useful life, of property owned by the taxpayer such as plant or equipment, or (2) to adapt property to a new or different use.” Defendant says that each project here in issue consists of “a new facility or addition of a permanent nature,” and points particularly to the retaining walls and culverts as examples of
Whether expenditures are currently deductible or must be capitalized depends on the purpose for which the expenditures are made. As stated in Griffin & Co. v. United States, 182 Ct. Cl. 436, 456, 389 F. 2d 802, 814 (1968) :
* * * If their purpose was merely to repair property and thus keep it in good condition during its probable useful life, the expenditures were deductible as business expenses. Illinois Merchants Trust Co., 4 B.T.A. 103, 106 (1926). On the other hand, if the purpose of the expenditures in question was to improve property and thus increase its value, the expenditures were capital in nature and were not deductible as business expenses. Duffy v. Central R.R., 268 U.S. 55, 62-63 (1925). The question of purpose is, of course, a factual issue. Russell Box Co. v. Commissioner, 208 F. 2d 452, 454 (1st Cir. 1953).
The record here supports plaintiff. The construction work, though differing in detail from project to project, all was undertaken as remedial steps to correct problems of water erosion which threatened to render unserviceable already existing railroad embankments, some of which had been in place for as long as 60 years. The value and original service life of the embankments were not increased by the corrective work done; nor were the embankments adapted to any new or different use. Plainfleld-Union Water Co. v. Commissioner, 39 T.C. 333 (1962). Bather, the work simply arrested and corrected a condition of deterioration which threatened a premature end to the otherwise indefinite service life of the embankments. American Bemberg Corp. v. Commissioner, 10 T.C. 361 (1948), aff'd, 177 F. 2d 200 (6th Cir. 1949); Midland Empire Packing Co. v. Commissioner, 14 T.C. 635 (1950). The fact that some of the construction work may have been relatively permanent and had a useful life of more than one year is not controlling. Connecticut Light & Power Co. v. United States, 156 Ct. Cl. 304, 299 F. 2d 259 (1962). Nor is it controlling that the work restored the embankments to their pre-erosion condition and added value as compared with the situation immediately prior to the work. The proper test, as stated in Oberman Mfg. Co. v. Commissioner, 47 T.C.
This court’s decision in Kansas City Southern R.R. v. United States, 125 Ct. Cl. 287, 112 F. Supp. 164 (1953), is fully in point.
At the oral argument in this case, defendant argued that the instant situation is distinguishable from Kansas City
Plaintiff acknowledges that the cost for the protective work at issue was placed in Interstate Commerce Commission accounts 3 and 6 which are capital accounts. However, it is by now well-settled that bookkeeping entries, while in some circumstances of evidential value, are not determinative for Federal tax purposes. That decision must rest upon the actual facts. Doyle v. Mitchell Brothers Co., 247 U.S. 179, 187 (1918); Helvering v. Midland Mut. Life Ins. Co., 300 U.S. 216, 223 (1937); A. Kreamer, Inc. v. United States, 66 Ct. Cl. 308, 316 (1928) ; Allen v. Commissioner, 117 F. 2d 364, 368 (1st Cir. 1941); Commissioner v. North Jersey Title Ins. Co., 79 F. 2d 492, 493 (3d Cir. 1935); Sitterding v. Commissioner, 80 F. 2d 939, 941 (4th Cir. 1936); Commissioner v. Landers, Corp., 210 F. 2d 188, 192 (6th Cir. 1954); Northwestern States Portland Cement Co. v. Huston, 126 F. 2d 196, 199 (8th Cir. 1942); Terminal Investment Co., 2 T.C. 1004, 1013 (1943). Any doubt that the rule is otherwise in the instant situation because these accounts were established by the Interstate Commerce Commission was early dispelled in Old Colony R.R. v. Commissioner, 284 U.S. 552 (1932), where the Supreme Court stated:
* * * Moreover, the rules of accounting enforced upon a carrier by the Interstate Commerce Commission are not binding upon the Commissioner, nor may he resort to the rules of that body, made for other purposes, for the determination of tax liability under the revenue acts. * * * [Id. at 562.]
Accord, Connecticut Light & Power Co. v. United States, 156 Ct. Cl. 304, 310, 299 F. 2d 259, 263 (1962); New York Central R.R. v. Commissioner, 79 F. 2d 247, 252 (2d Cir. 1935), cert. denied, 296 U.S. 653; Mine Hill & Schuylkill Haven R.R. v. Smith, 184 F. 2d 422, 426 (3d Cir. 1950), cert. denied, 340 U.S. 932 (1951); Helvering v. Edison Bros.
Defendant also argues that Mimeo 58, the lists of depre-ciable property submitted by plaintiff, the terms letter, plaintiff’s acceptance thereof, and the later revised schedules demonstrate that the I.C.C. accounts were expressly established for tax purposes. The above discussion with respect to the donated property issue is equally applicable to this argument by defendant. The purpose of the schedules of depreciable property, Mimeo 58, and the terms letter was to provide that the basis for depreciation of the road property was to be determined in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code. Even assuming that the statement “Donated property or contributions or grants in aid of construction from any source must be excluded” was a condition independent of the just-stated purpose, plaintiff’s acceptance thereof was conditional and plaintiff is entitled to the benefits of the changes in the law by the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown Shoe Co. v. Commissioner, supra, as discussed above.
This rationale also disposes of the first and third grounds put forth by defendant for distinguishing the instant case from Kansas City Southern R.R. v. United States, supra. That is to say that (1) the item of protective work involved in Kansas Gity Southern B.B. v. United States, supra, was not included in the itemized list of depreciable properties so that it retained its character as an expense; and (3) plaintiff agreed that the I.C.C. accounts would be binding for Federal tax purposes.
Defendant also says that the Kansas Gity Southern B.B. case does not apply because when it was decided, the I.C.C. regulations no longer required the capitalization of the items that were in issue there, but permitted them to be expenses. As already indicated, however, the accounting procedure established by a regulatory agency is not determinative of Federal tax liability. Each case must rest upon the actual facts. This was the court’s approach in the Kansas Gity Southern B.B. case, as shown by the following discussion:
Our problem is to determine whether the pole-driving work was maintenance work or capital improvement work. If, at the time of the original construction of the*306 railroad, it had been possible to foresee where the water pockets would appear, and the poles had then been driven, their cost would, of course, have been a capital cost. But the water pockets develop and appear casually, and, as they appear, they present a problem of maintaining an existing completed track in a safe and economical operating condition. If in particular locations it should be found that ordinary, railroad ties were subject to extraordinary deterioration because of soil conditions or insects, and the ties were replaced with others of a type which would withstand these attacks better and longer, that replacement would, we think, be maintenance. The fact that the replacements, once made, would be good for many years, would not seem to be significant. When a building or a machine is repaired, it is not unusual that the repaired portion is better than and will outlast the parts that have not yet needed repairs. In the instant case the railroad track, after the poles were driven, was still just a railroad track, and the parts of it where the poles were driven were no more useful than the other parts which had not needed this work. [125 Ct. Cl. at 289,112 F. Supp. at 165-66.]
Although the court noted the I.C.C. accounting procedure, it did so only as support for the determination it had made on the facts and not as authority therefor. Defendant has failed to distinguish the instant case from Kansas Oity Southern B.B., supra, which, as found by the trial commissioner, is fully in point.
In sum, the construction projects were in the nature of repairs and maintenance, rather than capital improvements, and their cost is currently deductible.
YaoatioN Pay Accrual Issue
In 1955, plaintiff accrued and took as a deduction on its Federal income tax return an amount estimated to be its liability for vested vacation pay earned by its employees in 1955 and payable in 1956. Because plaintiff did not know how much it would in fact pay out in 1956 for vacation pay liability accrued in 1955, it had to estimate its liability on the basis of past experience.
Prior to 1955, plaintiff used the following method to estimate its vacation pay liability accrued during a given year:
Starting in 1955, plaintiff changed its method of estimating accrued vacation pay liability. Although plaintiff maintained its books of account on the basis of the calendar year, it closed its books for vacation pay liability purposes (for some unexplained reason) at the end of the first 10 months of 1955. Thus, when estimating its accrued liability for 1955, plaintiff did not use as a basis the actual payments made in 1955 but rather used the actual payments made during the first 10 months of 1955, plus an estimate of the payments made during the last 2 months of 1955. The estimate for the last 2 months of 1955 was based on payment experience in 1954, for which plaintiff determined that about 20 percent of the vacation payments were made during the last 2 months of that year. Plaintiff assumed that the same percentage would apply in 1955. In fact, the actual payments made in 1955 were $4,926,897, whereas plaintiff based its deduction on a figure of $5,233,624.70, a difference and overstatement of $306,727.70. Plaintiff arrived at the $5,233,624.70 figure by summing up $4,372.649.93, the actual payments made for the first 10 months of 1955, and $860,974.77, the amount estimated to be the payments for the last 2 months of 1955, based on 1954 experience.
Defendant says that the method used by plaintiff in 1955 was improper and that plaintiff should have used the method it had consistently employed prior to 1955. Had plaintiff done so, its deduction for 1955 would have been $306,727.70 less than the deduction actually taken. Plaintiff concedes that in 1955 it changed its method of estimating accrued liability but argues that the deduction taken was nonetheless “reasonable” because “the accrual deduction claimed for 1955
At the outset, it is noted that plaintiff is wrong in stating that “the accrual deduction claimed for 1955 exceeded by 4% the amount actually paid in 1956.” In fact, the difference was about 5.3 percent (finding 36). In any event, plaintiff cannot prevail for more fundamental reasons, discussed below.
Section 461 of the 1954 Internal Eevenue Code and Treas. Eeg. § 1.461-1 (a) (2) set out rules for determining the proper year and amount in which deductions may be taken. The Eegulations state that taxpayers on the accrual method of accounting must deduct expenses in “the taxable year in which all the events have occurred which determine the fact of liability and the amount thereof can be determined with reasonable accuracy.” Furthermore, the Eegulations state:
Where a deduction is properly accrued on the basis of a computation made with reasonable accuracy and the exact amount is subsequently determined in a later taxable year, the difference-, if any, between such amounts shall be taken into account for the later taxable year in which such determination is made. (Emphasis added)
The requirement that estimates be “made with reasonable accuracy” means that estimates must be based on the best available information. The best available information for estimating accrued vacation pay liability in any given year is the actual payments made during that year for vacations which accrued the year before; and prior to 1955, it was on such basis that plaintiff estimated its accrued liability. Plaintiff has made no persuasive showing why it changed from this method for the year 1955. A letter of explanation to the Internal Eevenue Service dated June 8, 1962, simply stated that accruals for vacation pay liability beginning “in 1954” were made “on the books of account, making it necessary to base the accrual on information available at the time the books are closed.” There was no explanation why the books were closed for vacation pay liability purposes at the end of 10 months when for all other purposes, plaintiff’s books are
The 4-percent tolerance rule used by the Internal Eevenue Service has no application here, even if plaintiff came within it. As correctly stated by defendant, that rule “does not justify a deduction that is four percent more than the proper amount merely because the taxpayer, for reasons not explained in the record, wishes to change its method of estimating accruals, and thereby achieve an increased deduction on the accrual basis.” In no event can the 4-percent rule be used to justify estimated accruals based on information other than the best available.
Accordingly, the deduction taken by plaintiff for accrued vacation pay liability for 1955 was overstated by $306,727.70, and defendant is entitled to the appropriate offset against any recovery by plaintiff.
MexioaN Tax Ceedit Issue
The issue is whether plaintiff can take a tax credit against Federal income taxes for taxes paid to Mexico in 1955. Plaintiff says it is entitled to a credit of $74,767.97 pursuant to §§ 901-904 of the 1954 Internal Eevenue Code. Defendant challenges plaintiff’s right to the tax credit. The Internal Eevenue Service held that plaintiff was entitled to a deduction from gross income for such tax but not a tax credit. The factual underpinning of this issue is in all material respects identical to Missouri-Illinois R.R. v. United States, 180 Ct. Cl. 1179, 381 F. 2d 1001 (1967), and Missouri Pacific R.R. v. United States, 301 F. Supp. 839 (E.D. Mo. 1967) aff'd in part, rerid in fart and remanded, 411 F. 2d 327 (8th Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 1037 (1970). In both cases, it was held that the taxpayer was entitled to the claimed tax credit. Nevertheless, defendant again seeks to litigate the issue.
XIV. — Rentals, prizes, royalties and retributions of all kinds which are received as owners or holders of personal property or of rolling stock from the persons to whom they grant the use or exploitation of the same without transferring the ownership thereof.
Under Article 129th, the lessor of rolling stock is entitled to certain deductions. However, paragraph XIV provides that those taxpayers to which paragraph III of Article 6th refers, who receive income for any of the reasons set forth in paragraph XIV, shall pay the tax in Schedule I. The plaintiff is a taxpayer within paragraph III of Article 6th. Schedule I provides in Article 26th that the basis of the tax in said schedule shall be the taxable profit which is the difference between the income received by the taxpayer during a period and the deductions authorized by the law.
This law clearly imposed a tax on income received by plaintiff as per diem charges paid by Mexican railroads to the plaintiff for use of plaintiff’s railroad cars on Mexican railroad lines in Mexico in 1955 (the taxable year involved in this case).
The defendant argues further that “no tax was paid by the plaintiff to the Government of Mexico”. It is concluded that this argument is without merit.
Article 28th of Schedule I of the above statute provides that when because of the nature and characteristics of the operations carried out by the taxpayer it is not possible, by ordinary procedures, to determine with exactness the taxable income, the department of the treasury may enter into agreements for the determination of the tax base. The Mexican treasury department considered that it was difficult to determine the taxable income of the foreign companies leasing rolling stock into Mexico and to check and verify the ex
On December 31,1954, an agreement was executed by representatives of United States and Canadian railroads, of the Government of Mexico and of the Government-owned railways of Mexico, with respect to the payment of the tax on the income received by the United States and Canadian railroads from Mexican railroads. This agreement recited that certain United States and Canadian railroads (including the plaintiff herein) received income from sources located in the Republic of Mexico from the rental of rolling stock to the National Railways of Mexico and the Mexican Railway, which income was held to be subject to the Mexican income tax law. The agreement thereafter provided that the income received from the rental of roll ing .stock while in the Republic of Mexico, by the United States and Canadian railroads which do not operate in Mexico through agencies or branches, was subject to payment of Mexican income tax under Schedule VI of the income tax law; that the Mexican railways were authorized and obligated to retain the tax for which the United States and Canadian railroads were liable, and to pay to the Mexican treasury the amount so retained; that the amounts retained shall be equal to the tax due; that the payment of the amounts so retained, to the Mexican Government, would be in full satisfaction of the obligations of the United States and Canadian railroads for Mexican income taxes on the rolling stock rentals; that each United States and Canadian railroad was obligated to file an income tax return setting forth all income from the Mexican railroads for the rental of rolling stock and the total Mexican income tax due thereon, and that the department of the treasury and public credit of the Republic of Mexico agreed that the retention of the difference between the basic per diem rate and the Mexican per diem rate would fully satisfy the obligations of each of the United States and Canadian railroads for Mexican income taxes on rolling stock rentals. The agreement was executed by representatives of United States and Canadian railroads, the Government of Mexico and the National Railways of Mexico and Mexican Railway, relating
Pertinent clauses of the agreement between the American railroads (including plaintiff), Canadian railroads and the Minister of Finance and Public Credit (on behalf of the Government of Mexico) and the General Manager of the Government-owned Mexican railroads are as follows:
CLAUSES:
1. The revenue received by American and Canadian Railroads not operating in Mexico through agencies or branches derived from rental of rolling stock while _ in the Republic of Mexico, is subject to the payment of income tax, as per Item VI.
2. The National Railways of Mexico and Mexican Railway, with authority provided for in Article 201 of the Income Tax Law, are — compelled to withhold the tax accrued by the American and Canadian-Railroads on payments derived from rental of rolling stock while in the Republic of Mexico. The withholding is to be made on the total of the tax accrued and, therefore, the American and Canadian Railroads are exempt from the obligation decreed in Article 169 of — Rulings of the Income Tax Law, which in essence is the payment of the tax through the cancellation of stamps on receipts issued to — the National Railways of Mexico and Mexican Railway for taxes derived from the rental of rolling stock while in the Republic of Mexico.
3. The National Railways of Mexico and Mexican Railway agree to pay without discounts to each of the American and Canadian Railroads listed on enclosure “A” signed by each party and included in this — Agreement, the basic Per-Diem rate in effect at the time it is due, to retain the difference between the basic Per-Diem rate and the Mexican Per-Diem rate, and to pay the amounts withheld to the Mexican Government as the total obligations of the American and Canadian Railroads, in accordance with the Income Tax Law of Mexico regarding the rental of rolling stock.
*313 4. The American and Canadian Eailroads are to file with the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit during the month of January of each year a declaration of Income Tax earned the previous year, wherein all of the revenues received by the Mexican Eailroads through the rental of rolling stock are to be mentioned and the total of the tax due on same.
5. It is agreed that the declarations of Income Tax filed individually by the American and Canadian Eail-roads listed on enclosure “A”, will include a statement of the total of the taxes mentioned as earned and withheld by the National Eailways of Mexico and Mexican Eailway, in accordance with Articles 201 and 28 of the Income Tax Law of Mexico. It is also agreed that the revenue for the rental of rolling stock mentioned in said declarations will be computed at the basis of the Mexican Per-Diem rate.
6. The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit of the Eepublic of Mexico agrees that the withholding of the difference between the Basic Per-Diem rate and the Mexican Per-Diem rate mentioned in — Clause 3, will cover completely all obligations of each of the American and Canadian Eailroads listed on enclosure “A” of the Income Tax Law of Mexico on rental of rolling stock. The Ministry agrees, in addition, to furnish to each of the American and Canadian Eailroads through a receipt or other form, a statement certifying said obligations.
7. The Ministry of Finance and Public credit will grant the National Eailways of Mexico and the Mexican Eailway for as long as — this obligation of payment of tax on rental of rolling stock exists, a subsidy equal to the amount of taxes withheld.
The tax withheld by the Mexican railroads which were parties to the tax agreements was computed, in accordance with such agreements, as the difference between the basic.per diem rate and the Mexican per diem rate. In the case of railroads not parties to the agreements, the tax was 10 percent of the gross rental.
In the absence of any tax agreements, specific provisions of the Mexican income tax statute provided for the withholding of 10 percent of the gross rentals. In such instances, while the rental income would also be taxed under Schedule I of the Mexican income tax law, deductions would be permitted (such as salaries, overhead, depreciation, and professional services).
The Mexican income tax law does not provide for a subsidy to the Mexican railroads, but this law does hold those obligated to withhold amounts as tax, liable at all times jointly with the taxpayer for payment of the tax.
The Association 'of American Railroads (AAR) sets per diem rental rates for freight cars which are operated off the line owning the car and on other railroad lines. The freight car per diem rate for 1955 was $2.40, which was the amount that one United States or Canadian railroad paid another United States or Canadian railroad for each calendar day a freight car owned by the second railroad remained on the first railroad’s lines. The per diem rate paid by the Mexican railroads in 1955 for use of American freight cars was $3.40, of which $1.00 was withheld by the Mexican railroads as payment for tax due the Mexican Government and $2.40 was paid to the American railroad whose cars were used. For 1955, plaintiff claims payment of taxes to Mexico of $85,-656.87, for which it claims a tax credit of $74,767.97 under §§ 901-904 of the Internal Revenue Code for 1954.
It is concluded that the tax of $85,656.87 imposed by the Mexican income tax law upon the freight rentals earned by the plaintiff while its railroad cars were in Mexico in 1955, and which tax was withheld, by the Mexican railroads for the Mexican treasury, was a payment by the plaintiff of such taxes to the Mexican Government. Furthermore, it was a foreign income tax within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States. The fact that the payment was made through a system of withholding and debits and credits in accordance with the accounting and fiscal policies and procedures of the Government of Mexico does not detract from its Status as a payment of the taxes due by the plaintiff. The system is much like that used in the United States where our government withholds income tax from the salaries of its employees. Such amounts are later credited to the income tax due by the taxpayer through a debit and credit system between the Internal Revenue Service and the
The fact that the Mexican Government later granted subsidies to the Mexican railroads equal to the plaintiff’s tax payments does not change the fact that the plaintiff made the payments. This is wholly an internal Mexican affair that is of no concern to us. As a matter of fact, most of the railroads were owned and operated by the Mexican Government. Under these circumstances, the subsidies were no doubt accomplished by debits and credits within the government. But here again, we are not concerned with what Mexico did in this regard.
The plaintiff is entitled to the tax credit of $74,167.97 on the $85,656.87 foreign income tax it paid to Mexico in 1955.
The dissenting opinion of Davis, Judge, in which Laramorh, Senior Judge, and Ddrfee, Senior Judge, join in part, and in which Nichols, Judge, joins, and the dissenting opinion of Nichols, Judge, follow the opinion of the trial commissioner which has been adopted by the court.
Defendant says in its brief that plaintiff “is entitled to the recovery claimed under * * * [the excess salvage} issue.” Thus, no findings on, or discussion of, that issue are required.
For excellent and detailed analyses of Detroit Mdiaon and Brown Shoe, as well as related cases, see Freeman and Speiller, Tax Consequences of Subsidies to Induce Business Location, 9 Tax L.R. 255 (1953-54) ; also, Note Tax Consequences of Non-Shareholder Contributions to Corporate Capital, 66 Yale U.J. 1085 (1956-57).
It has been suggested that Brown Shoe “In effect” overruled Detroit Edison. See the Freeman and SpelUer article cited in n. 3, at 262. In any event, Detroit Edison does not apply here.
Similarly, plaintiff’s failure to include the donated property here at issue in the schedules of plaintiff’s property for which straight line depreciation was requested and in the later revised schedules may reflect no more than plaintiff’s apparent opinion at those times that such property was not depreciable.
In passing, it Is noted that § 362(e) (1) of the 1954 Code effectively overruled the Brown Shoe case with respect to property contributed to a corporation by a nonshareholder after June 22, 1954. It provides that the basis of such property shall be zero. Since the property here in question was all contributed to plaintiff prior to June 22, 1954, § 362(c) (1) does not apply.
H.E. Rep. No. 3124, 81st Cong., 2d Sess. (1950-2 Cum. Boil. 580, 586). See also S. Rep. No. 23T5, 81st Cong., 2d Sess. (1950-2 Cum. Bull. 483, 560).
The Internal Revenue Service accepts replacement accounting, as well as retirement and betterment accounting, as proper methods for determining depreciation under § 167 of the 1954 Internal Revenue Code. However, replacement accounting has been criticized and was the subject of a Congressional study in 1957. See Report op Committee on Government Operations, H.R. Rep. No. 1167, 85th Cong., 1st «ess. (1957).
I.8., rail weighing 80 pounds per linear yard.
Bolted Joints for 112-pound rail cost $9.81 each ; for 129-pound rail, $10.39.
Plaintiff; installs reusable rail for some of Its Industrial customers as side track; and in 1955, it charged such customers about 60 percent of the price of comparable niew rail. While this tends to establish, a fair market price on the traditional basis of a willing buyer and willing seller, it is not a truly reliable price since it includes installation cost and is subject to rebate depending on the later volume of use to which the track is subjected. Defendant, therefore, bases its fair market value of reusable rail on the formula, above noted, rather than the 60 percent figure.
Plaintiff’s reply brief says that “plaintiff recognizes that its previously assigned value of * * * [$22.32 per net ton] was arbitrary * * *” and that "plaintiff is willing to accept a value * * * of the lower of actual cost or fair market value * *
The railroads were not uniform in the values they assigned to reusable rail in 1955. The record shows that values ranged from §63.34 per net ton down to values lower than §22.32 per net ton. (Finding 27.)
At trial, a former chief of the section of accounting of the Interstate Commerce Commission testified that the interpretation and application of § 10.01-7 (d) is governed by the “major principle” that in no case shall “salvage value exceed the original cost.” Despite the testimony, nowhere in the Commission’s uniform System of Account® for Railroad Companies does there purport to be a rule stating such “major principle” and the witness could point to none. No doubt, such “major principle” has to do with the fact that the Interstate Commerce Commission, a rate-making regulatory agency, is obliged to see that the railroads do not overstate the book value of their assets as a whole. Otherwise, unjustified rate increases might be urged. Nevertheless, § 10.01-7 (d) is clear on its face, its meaning is plain and unambiguous, and it remains a rule currently in force (¶ 18 under “Regulations Prescribed” in the 1968 edition of the Uniform System of Accounts for Railroad Companies).
The Kansas City Southern ease is followed in Rey. Rol. 54-356, 1954-2 Cum. Bull. 82, and Rey. Rnl. 58-278, 1958-1 Cum. Bull. 92.
The defendant has conceded that, If the tax was Imposed and paid, the plaintiff is entitled to such credit under Sections 901 — 904 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1934.
Concurrence in Part
dissenting in part:
I join the court’s opinion except for the “Donated Property Depreciation Issue” and the “Protective Work Issue”, on both of which I would hold for the Government.
In this instance, it is evident to me that Congress, which funded all or the lion’s share of the “donations” as part of the federal highway program, did not have in mind awarding any substantial gratuities to the railroads or increasing their capital. The intended beneficiaries of the program, ultimate and immediate, were the people at large, the auto-travelling segment of the public, and the trucking industry.
The lack of any desire to give free capital to the railroads is spelled out, almost in terms, in the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944,58 Stat. 838,841, § 5 (b) ,
The court leans heavily on an assumed obligation on plaintiff’s part to replace the facilities at its own expense. The defendant points out that only 42 of the 173 agreements embody such an obligation expressly; the rest are silent on the point and it may well be that there is no such responsibility. Even on the court’s assumption, there are two comments to be made. Depreciation reflects the cost of an existing capital asset, not the cost of a potential replacement. Weiss v. Wiener, 279 U.S. 333 (1929); Helvering v. Lazarus & Co., 808 U.S. 252, 254 (1939). And even if plaintiff did have the replacement obligation the court finds, that would not outbalance the clear evidence that the Federal Government did not have, in the phrasing of Brown Shoe, “a definite purpose to enlarge the working capital of the company” by a free gift.
This lack of any real purpose to do here what the “community groups” did in Brown Shoe disposes of the “donated property” issue, in my opinion, and I need not elaborate my views on the defendant’s alternative defense based on Mimeo 58 and the terms letter. On this point, too, I disagree with the court. Mimeo 58, which explicitly excludes donated property from straight-line depreciation, is entwined with the terms letter and forms an integral part of the mutual understanding for the change-over from retirement accounting. See Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific R.R. v. United States, 186 Ct. Cl. 250, 266-272, 287-94, 404 F. 2d 960, 969-72 (1968). One of those accepted conditions was the exclusion of donated
Protective WorJc: Although the nature of the accounts in which plaintiff placed its protective work projects is not automatically binding for tax purposes, the character of those accounts does bear directly on the plaintiff’s own view and treatment of the projects — and the plaintiff’s own treatment is significant because, as the court says, “whether expenditures are currently deductible or must be capitalized depends on the purpose for which the expenditures are made.” Here, plaintiff put the projects in capital accounts — separate from the assets (e.g. embankments) which they are now said to have repaired — thus suggesting that, in plaintiff’s view, the purpose of the expenditures was not simply repair of the embankment (for example), but, rather, establishment of a new and independent capital asset with a depreciable life of its own. Again, when plaintiff sought in the 1940’s to change from the retirement system, the list of properties it furnished the Government as subject to depreciation covered the particular items now involved (this listing has special meaning because it obviously was for tax purposes).
Similarly, Kansas City Southern Ry. v. United States, 125 Ct. Cl. 287, 112 F. Supp. 164 (1953), looks quite different through my legal lenses. The physical nature of the work there, pole driving, was not comparable. In addition, that item was not included by the railroad in its depreciable properties for change-over from retirement accounting. The I.C.C. had itself acknowledged that the property should not have been included in a capital account, and this court recognized that reversal-of-position as showing that the original characterization as capital was wrong. 125 Ct. Cl. at 290, 293, 112 F. Supp. at 166. Thus, there was no such uniformity of treatment as there is here. On the contrary, when Kansas Oity was decided, the weightier view was that the item was expansible and not capital; and the taxpayer had not undertaken, as plaintiff did with respect to the items here (in its acceptance of the terms letter arrangement) to consider the property as capital and depreciable for tax purposes.
“Any railway involved in any project for the elimination of hazards of railway-highway crossings paid for in whole or in part from funds made available under this Act. shall be liable to the united States for a sum bearing the same ratio to the net benefit received by such railway from such project that the Federal funds expended on such project bear to the total cost of such project. For the purposes of this subsection, the net benefit received by a railway from any such project shall be deemed to be the amount by which the reasonable value of the total benefits received by It from such project exceeds the amount paid by it (including the reasonable value of any property rights contributed by It) toward the cost of such project; and in no case shall the total benefits to any railway or railways be deemed to have a reasonable value in excess of 10 per centum of the cost of any such project. The liability of any railway to the United States with respect to any such project may be discharged by paying to the United States, within six months after the completion of such project, such amount as the Commissioner of Public Eoads determines to be the amount of such liability. Any such determination of the Commissioner shall be made on the basis of recommendations made to him by the State highway department and on the basis of such other information and investigation, if any, as the Commissioner deems necessary or proper. If any such railway has failed so to discharge its liability to the United States with respect to any project within six months after the completion thereof, the Commissioner of Public Roads shall reguest the Attorney General to institute proceedings against such railroad for the recovery of the amount for which it is liable under this subsection. The Attorney General is authorized to bring such proceedings on behalf of the United States in the appropriate district court of the United States, and the United States shall be entitled in such proceedings to recover such sums as it is considered and adjudged by the court that such railway is liable for in the premises. Any amounts paid to or recovered by the United States under this subsection shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.”
The agreement for construction of new highway underpasses gave the governmental bodies the right to construct without paying to plaintiff any other compensation for an easement. Such underpasses account for almost three-quarters of the amount involved in this case with respect to the “donated property" issue.
As already mentioned In my discussion of “Donated Property Depreciation", supra, I do not agree with the court as to the effect of Mimeo 58 and the terms letter, or of the railroads’ rights under that arrangement.
Concurrence in Part
dissenting in part:
I join in the opinion and judgment of the court, except as specified. Eespectfully, I cannot subscribe to its treatment of the Mexican Tax Credit issue.
I start with the proposition that Mexicans live, as is their right, under a government and institutions thait are different from ours, and no doubt better for them than ours would be. The Mexican statute established an income tax, but the Mexican authorities, by the agreement and findings, transformed it into something entirely different. We must assume
What we have in reality is an agreement, that Mexico collects no tax and the Mexican railroads do not pay a per diem car rental in excess of that paid by United States and Canadian railroads. From the Mexican point of view, that is absolutely all. It is true they go through some paper legerdemain but that is only to accommodate these strange Norte Americanos. They assess a tax, so-called, of 100 percent of the so-called differential in the rentals, they purport to withhold it, and lo, the beneficent government in Mexico City grants the withholding to the railroad as a subsidy! The money never moves, but a non-tax becomes a tax, by virtue of this paper shuffling.
I am reminded of those mythical documents, known as invoices, which Hong Kong shopkeepers furnish to American tourists for the benefit, it is supposed, of American Customs.
North of the Rio Grande, there occurs the only result of this that has meaning. The United States railroad adds the paper differential to its income, and will be taxed 52 cents on every dollar of it. But it takes the purported withholding as a tax credit and thus ends up with a saving of 48 cents of United States tax for every dollar of paper differential, up to the limits prescribed by the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 § 904, which prevent the credit from reducing the United States tax on income derived within the United States.
The presumption of the legality of Mexican official acts does not prevent us from having to determine that the so-called Mexican tax is either the substantial equivalent of an income tax as the term is used in the United States or is a tax in lieu thereof. Missouri Pacific RR v. United States, 183 Ct. Cl. 168, 392 F. 2d 592 (1968). Defendant says that it is not a tax at all if no money goes into the Mexican fisc. What is the Mexican fisc? The Mexican railroads being publicly owned, one may regard them as public instrumentalities and
Also, it appears to me, the majority overlooks the salutory rule Mr. Justice Holmes laid down in the American Banana, Co. case, supra. Mexican law decreed that Mexican officials levy an income tax, so we instinctively believe we must discover an income tax, or at least a tax in lieu thereof, somewhere in these proceedings. Were we confronted with the acts of United 'States federal officials, or those of a United States state official, this approach would be proper. We shy away from the obvious fact, that Mexico traded off the income tax for a concession in the car rentals Mexican public-owned railroads paid United States railroads. But, as Holmes said at p.358:
* * * The very meaning of sovereignty is that the decree of the sovereign makes law. * * *
Thus, for us, the Mexican officials’ measures are right because they took them, and we don’t have to twist or distort their nature.
The remaining problem is a difficult one. Defendant has elaborated reasons why this court is not bound by its decision in Missouri-Illinois RR Co. v. United States, 180 Ct. Cl. 1179, 381 F. 2d 1001 (1967) in which we had under review the same agreement considered again here. Defendant argues that whether the railroad paid a tax is a fact finding, not committing the court by stare decisis. It says it was trapped in an unfortunate stipulation in the Missouri-IUinois case. The majority here is apparently enough impressed by this
FindiNgs of Fact
1. Plaintiff, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Eailroad Company, is an Illinois corporation with its principal offices at 547 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois. Plaintiff is a common carrier by rail in interstate commerce subject to the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
2. At all times here pertinent, plaintiff maintained its books of account and filed its Federal income tax return on the accrual method of accounting and on the basis of the calendar year.
3. Plaintiff timely filed its Federal income tax return for 1955 with the District Director of Internal Eevenue, Chicago, Illinois. Plaintiff paid income tax with interest for the year 1955 and obtained refunds to date, leaving net unrefunded taxes, all as follows:
Date of Payment Tax Interest
Sept. 15, 1955_ $445, 000. 00 __
Dec. 15, 1955-__ 445, 000. 00 _
Mar. 15, 1956_ 5, 151, 000. 00 _
June 15, 1956_ 4, 799, 051. 48 _
Aug. 15, 1957_ 305, 480. 18 $20, 458. 80
Refund_ (256,349.64) (17,168.40)
Refund_ (2, 756. 83) (184. 63)
Totals_ $10, 886, 425. 19 $3,105. 77
Date filed Issue Amount
Feb. 16, 1959_Protection Work_ $63, 349. 88
Do_Casualty Loss_ 7, 578. 61
Do_Depreciation, Donated Property. 26, 784. 37
Do_Excess Salvage_ 60, 428. 50
Do_Welded Rail_ 73, 220. 16
Apr. 14, 1959_1341 Computation_ 496, 887. 10
On May 27, 1963, the District Director disallowed plaintiff’s claims.
5. Plaintiff is the sole owner of the claims here relied upon. No action on the claims has been taken by the Congress of the United States or by any department of the Government, except as noted above.
6. (a) Plaintiff’s petition, filed May 7, 1965, raised issues relating to the six claims for refund noted in finding 4. In its answer, filed September 7,1965, and first amended answer, filed October 24, 1967, defendant asserted, as setoffs, four defenses: (a) Mexican tax credit issue, (b) vacation pay accrual issue, (c) rail salvage value issue, and (d) § 1341 of the 1954 Internal Revenue Code computation issue. Defendant subsequently dropped its setoff defense under § 1341; and the parties agreed by pretrial stipulation that, with respect to the § 1341 issue raised in the petition, “* * * the amount of $490,315.14 may be accepted as the correct over payment under this issue.” Accordingly, neither party has requested findings of fact with respect to the § 1341 issue. After trial, defendant conceded that plaintiff “is entitled to the recovery claimed under * * * [the excess salvage] issue.” Thus, no findings of fact are necessary on that issue and plaintiff is entitled to recover with respect thereto. Remaining for resolution are seven issues: (a) donated property depreciation, (b) casualty loss, (c) welded rail, (d) rail salvage value, (e) protective work, (f) vacation pay accrual, and (g) Mexican tax credit.
(b) The parties have agreed that the amount of recovery to which plaintiff is entitled, if any, be reserved for determination by the parties after a decision on the merits of the
Donated Property Depreciation Issue
7. Prior to June 22, 1954, several states contributed to plaintiff various protective and safety facilities, and plaintiff carried them in its accounts, as noted below:
Jetties (Account 3)_ $5,850.78
Bridges (Account 6)- 52,870.24
Highway Undercrossings (Account 6)- 1,475, 533. 30
Crossing Floodlights (Account 27)_ 1,635.58
Crossing Signals (Account 27)_ 543, 540. 00
Crossing Signs (Account 27)_ 3,701. 24
Highway Overerossings (Account 39)_ 63,009.39
Total_$2,146,140. 53
The dollar figures above indicated and stipulated by the parties represent the adjusted tax basis for each item in the hands of the plaintiff at the time of acquisition. If plaintiff is entitled to depreciation deductions with respect to the above-noted items, the parties have agreed that the proper rate of straight-line depreciation to be applied to the total tax basis of the items is 2.29 percent for account 3; 2.14 percent for account 6; 3.33 percent for account 27; and 2.65 percent for account 39.
8. (a) Starting about 1930, plaintiff entered into many agreements with various midwestem states relating to the facilities noted in finding 7. Though the agreements are not identical in terms, they provide in essence for construction of (a) highway overpasses and underpasses at highway-railroad intersections and (b) grade-crossing protection equipment, such as flashing-light signals and automatic gates. Generally, plaintiff agreed to perform the part of the construction work relating to railroad use, i.e., bridges, track, signal lights, etc., and the states agreed to perform the part of the work relating to highway use, i.e., roads for motor vehicles, approaches, etc. The parties agreed to share the expenses of the work, the states usually paying 50% or more of the total cost.
(b) Most of the agreements do not state expressly whether the respective state or the plaintiff has title to the facilities, though in some of the agreements plaintiff was given title ab initio to certain signal equipment. However, under all of the agreements, plaintiff was obligated to maintain, and replace at its own expense if needed, equipment originally furnished; and plaintiff could not arbitrarily remove equipment. Under all the agreements, plaintiff was required to maintain the facilities directly related to railroad use, such as bridges, roadbeds, track, etc., while the state was required to maintain the facilities directly related to motor-vehicle use, such as highways, approaches, etc. Some of the agreements provided that in the event equipment was no longer needed at a particular location, plaintiff could remove it, subject to approval by the appropriate regulatory bodies, for relocation at other sites. Other agreements provided that equipment no longer needed was to become the property of the state for removal as appropriate, in which event plaintiff was relieved of its obligation for maintenance; and to the extent that plaintiff had replaced equipment at its own expense, such equipment was to be the property of plaintiff. Other agreements provided that if equipment was no longer needed at a particular location, the parties would negotiate regarding its removal and reinstallation elsewhere.
9. The facilities noted in finding 7 were constructed primarily for the benefit of the public to improve safety and to expedite highway traffic flow. Plaintiff, however, received benefits from the facilities, among others, probable lower
10. (a) On February 5,19.43, plaintiff requested permission of the Internal Eevenue Service (IES) to change from retirement to depreciation accounting for road property. On April 12, 1943, the IES responded by letter to plaintiff’s request and enclosed a mimeographed form, called “Mimeo 58” and entitled “Change from Eetirement to Depreciation Accounting for Eoad Property.” Mimeo 58, undated and unsigned, was prepared by the IES for circulation to the railroads generally, many of which were seeking to change from retirement to depreciation accounting during World War II. Mimeo 58 sets out guidelines under which the changeover in accounting practice by the railroads would be acceptable to the IES, and it describes information to be furnished by the railroads.
Plaintiff thereafter furnished to the IES the required information which in essence constituted a list of properties subject to depreciation, their cost basis, salvage value, expired life, and estimated normal useful life; and on September 20, 1944, the IES sent plaintiff a terms letter, incorporating the information supplied by plaintiff and some of the requirements set out in Mimeo 58. The terms letter granted plaintiff permission “to change from retirement to depreciation
(b) Mimeo 58 stated, among other things, that with respect to property properly' includable for depreciation purposes, “[djonated property or contributions or grants hi aid of construction from any source must be excluded.” Such statement was not included in the terms letter of September 20, 1944. However, the schedules of plaintiff’s property, submitted to the IES in 1944 for which straight-line depreciation was requested, did not include the donated property listed in finding 7.
(c) On May 1,1961, plaintiff submitted to the IES revised schedules for depreciable roadway property and requested the benefit of section 94 of the Technical Amendments Act of 1958 (also known as the Eetirement-Straight Line Adjustment Act of 1958, Pub. L. No. 85-866,72 Stat. 1606). On July 26,1961, the IES responded to plaintiff’s request, noting the earlier , terms letter of September 20, 1944, and stating that plaintiff’s revised schedules were acceptable effective January 1, 1956, “provided a timely election has been made under séction 94.” Earlier, December 14, 1959, plaintiff had irrevocably elected to have section 94 of the above-noted act “apply to the determination of its Federal tax liability for all applicable years.” The revised schedules of depreciable property submitted by plaintiff to the IES in 1961 did not include the donated property listed in finding 7.
Casualty Loss Issue
11. During the taxable year 1955, 13 freight cars owned by plaintiff, and being capital assets used in its business, were
Welded Bail Issue
12. During 1955. and at all other material times, plaintiff used the retirement-replacement-betterment method of accounting for its track accounts and, in particular, for its rail and joint materials (angle bars, bolts and washers). Retirement-replacement-betterment accounting is recognized by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to be a proper method for determining depreciation. Under this method, as used by plaintiff, no ratable annual depreciation deduction is taken with respect to a particular asset. Rather, a deduction for the total original cost of the asset is taken upon the asset’s ultimate retirement. The total of such deductions in a tax year represents the depreciation deduction with respect to all items accounted for under the method for that year.
In detail, the retirement-replacement-betterment method of accounting, as used by plaintiff, works as below outlined. All assets subject to the method are carried on plaintiff’s books at stated values. When a particular asset, such as a section of rail, is retired from service without being replaced, its stated value on plaintiff’s books is charged to current expense. The retired asset is then assigned a value on plaintiff’s books
In the case of replacement of rail with heavier rail (a betterment) , the current cost of the betterment portion is capitalized, while the current cost of the replacement portion is expensed. E.g., if 80-pound rail is replaced with 100-pound rail, the current cost of the replacement in kind, i.e., 80-pound rail, is expensed, while the excess of the cost over the cost of replacement by 80-pound rail is capitalized as a betterment. If the 100-pound rail laid in replacement is used-rail taken from plaintiff’s inventory, the value previously assigned to it (ie., when placed in inventory) is the “cost” used to determine the 80-percent expense and 20-percent capitalize amounts. If, on the other hand, the 100-pound rail is new rail, its cost as new rail is the basis for the 80-percent and 20-percent apportionment.
13. In 1955, plaintiff replaced a number of 39-foot lengths of steel rail with 78-foot lengths of heavier rail. The standard length of rail purchased from steel mills was 39 feet. Plaintiff welded together two standard lengths to make the replacements. The total cost for welding such rails in 1955 was $155,748. The portion of the welding cost allocable to the increase in weight of the new rail was $14,940 and it was capitalized, in accordance with plaintiff’s accounting practice noted in finding 12. The portion of the welding cost allocable to the same weight as the replaced rail was $140,808 and it was expensed, in accordance with plaintiff’s accounting practice noted in finding 12. The average cost of welding rail in 1955 was $11.83 per weld, while the cost of joining two
14. On its books of account, plaintiff treated the cost of replacing bolted rail with welded rail as follows:
(a) The portion of the welding cost attributable to replacements of track in kind was expensed; and the portion attributable to higher-weight rail was capitalized;
(b) the original cost of the replaced joint materials (angle bars, bolts and washers), which cost had been capitalized when the joint was originally installed, was charged to current expense as a retirement; and
(c) nothing was entered on the books of account as a capital item to replace the cost of the retired joint materials except the portion of the welding cost attributable to higher-weight rail.
15. The conventional way of fastening together the ends of rail in a track system is by bolted joints. Bolted joints comprise a pair of angle bars which bridge the rail ends across the rails’ web and are fastened to the web by six bolts and washers. Bolted joints tend to come loose with wear and require maintenance to tighten them. If not tightened, the rail ends move up and down under the load of rolling stock, which batters and laminates the rail ends (called primary batter) and loosens the ties and tie plates. Furthermore, when the ties move up and down, the ballast under the ties becomes pulverized, water enters forming puddles, and the track is made insecure. Maintenance of conventionally bolted rail includes tightening up the bolts the first year after installation and generally each two years thereafter. About every 12-14 years, it is sometimes necessary to remove old bolts and replace them with new bolts. Primary batter, which results in depressions at the rail ends, is corrected by adding weld metal at the depression. The practice is to correct primary
16. Plaintiff first installed welded rail in some of its track lines in 1955, with the expectation that welded joints would prolong rail life and eliminate, or at least substantially reduce, maintenance. Welded joints, unlike bolted joints, do not require bolt tightening and repair as noted in finding 15. 'Savings in rail maintenance labor to date is estimated to be about 40-50 percent. The railroads, including plaintiff, are continuing to install and use welded rails. Though some cracked welds have required service, no maintenance of welded joints has been required to date, other than what is necessary on the rail lines themselves.
17. Though welded joints installed since 1955 have required no maintenance comparable to bolted joints, a phenomenon called secondary batter first became serious in 1967 and will require maintenance in the near future. Secondary batter results from the fact that the fused metal at welded joints is harder than the rail metal on either side of a joint. Thus, the joint wears less rapidly than the main rail. After extensive use and track wear, the metal adjacent either side of the weld tends to dish out as the wheels of railroad cars ride over the weld, i.e., the wheels tend to batter the track downstream of the weld. Furthermore, secondary batter is aggravated if the weld is not ground down initially to the level of the rail ends on either side of the weld. If not properly ground down, the wheels of railroad cars ride up over the weld and drop down on the other side of the weld, thus accelerating dishing out. Secondary batter becomes progressively worse with time and particularly if trains run in both directions on the track. Good engineering practice requires that secondary batter, like primary batter, be corrected when the depressions reach a depth of about 0.030-0.040 inches. In 1967, some of plaintiff’s main lines, with welded joints installed in 1955, showed secondary batter of about 0.025-0.039 inches.
Correction of secondary batter will require grinding down the weld and track to eliminate dished out areas, or, in ex
Bail Salvage Val/ae Issue
18. Secondhand, or used, rail is rail that has been picked up or recovered by plaintiff from one line of its track and is in sufficiently good condition to be relaid later in another line of track. Scrap rail is rail Which has been picked up or recovered and has no remaining usefulness to plaintiff as rail. It is sold to the highest bidder as scrap metal. In accounting for secondhand rail when picked up or relaid, plaintiff used retirement-replacement-betterment accounting, as described in finding 12. Since about 1920, and including 1955, plaintiff has consistently assigned a value of $25 per gross ton ($22.32 per net ton) to. the secondhand rail recovered from replacements or betterments, and has assigned a value of $20 per gross ton ($17.86 per net ton) for scrap rail. In 1955, plaintiff purchased new rail at an average of $93.70 per net ton. In 1955, plaintiff’s average original investment cost, for all rail in use, was $43 per net ton. In 1955, plaintiff realized $49 per gross ton ($43.75 per net ton) from the sale of rail as scrap, and plaintiff reported and paid tax on income arising from the sale of rail as scrap.
20. In its program for replacing rail in its track lines from time to time, plaintiff customarily lays heavier-weight sections to replace rail of lighter weight. ‘Rail released from main rail lines is usually taken up and relaid on a branch line or a secondary line; and, in turn, rail taken up from secondary lines or 'branch lines is usually relaid in yard tracks or industry tracks. For example, heavy rail, such as 136-pound rail, laid on plaintiff’s main line, is generally used in four cycles before its useful life is completed and it becomes scrap. Thus, rail released from the main line usually is reused three times — in a secondary line, then in a lighter branch line, and finally in yard tracks or industry tracks. Relay rail is classified according to weight and condition so to determine its suitability for reuse. Generally, rail that is recovered and reusable as secondhand rail is relaid within a year. At times, however, reusable rail remains in plaintiff’s inventory for more than a year.
The service life of rail, from the date first installed until picked up and sold as scrap, is between 40 and 50 years. The average age of rail in plaintiff’s main-line tracks at the time it is replaced is 22.69 years.
21. In 19,55, plaintiff laid in replacement 58,529 net tons of rail, of which 40,276 net tons were new rail and 18,253 net tons were secondhand rail. The 40,276 net tons of new rail cost $3,828,545, of which $536,847 was capitalized as bet-terments (representing 5,648 net tons), and $3,291,698 was expensed as replacements (representing 34,628 net tons). Of the 18,253 net tons of secondhand rail laid, 2,255 net tons were capitalized as betterments, at an assigned value of $22.32 per net ton (total $50,359); and 15,998 net tons were ex-pensed as replacements, at an assigned value of $22.32 per net ton (total, $357,196). Plaintiff in 1955 picked up 50,626 net tons of rail, the value of which was credited to (thus
In sum, considering the debits and credits to operating expense for rail relaid and rail picked up, the result was a net charge to operating expense of $2,644,817, constituting the cost of rail laid in replacement ($3,291,698 plus $357,196), less the assigned value of the rail picked up ($499,988 plus $504,089). ,.ji
In 1955, plaintiff added 839 net tons of rail in new lines and extensions. Of the 839 net tons, 12 net tons were new rail (total cost, $1,202) and 827 net tons were secondhand rail, carrying an assigned value of $22.32 per net ton (total cost, $18,455). Such costs were capitalized.
22. The use of an assigned value (or salvage value) for recovered rail, which value reduces the aggregate charges to operating expense for replacements and retirements without replacement, is an integral part of retirement-replacement-betterment accounting, as employed by plaintiff.
23. Eail picked up by plaintiff in 1955 and classified as scrap was assigned a value of $17.85 per net ton. The total amount so-valued was accounted for by reducing operating expenses (as noted in finding 21) and increasing the inventory (material and supplies) account. When the scrap was later sold (at higher than $17.85 per net ton), the difference between the assigned value ($17.85 per net ton) and the selling price ($43.75 per net ton) was treated as income. Generally and in 1955, plaintiff sold scrap rail almost immediately after pickup.
24. Plaintiff sometimes sells secondhand rail to industry users for laying as connecting track to operating rail lines. Generally, the industry concerned is charged a flat rate per foot of track laid. In 1955 plaintiff’s charges for industry rail laid were about 60 percent of the price of new rail. Sometimes, plaintiff refunds part of charges, based on the extent of use of track by the industrial user.
1919_$35. 83
1920 _ 42.08
1921_ _
1922 _ 36.64
1923 _ 36.93
1924 _ 39.08
1925 _ 38.61
1926 _ 88.62
1927 _ 40. 40
1928 _ 40.12
1929 _ 40. 00
1930 _ 40.02
1931_ 38. 79
1932 _ 36. 47
1933 _ 36.41
1934 _ 33.06
1935 _ 32.94
1936 _ 31.85
1937 _ 38.71
1938 _ 38.10
1939 _ 36.84
1940 _ 36. 71
1941_$36.84
1942 _ 36.74
1943 _ 36.90
1944 _ 38.35
1945 _ 36.48
1946 _ 44.95
1947 _ 53.64
1948 _ 61.62
1949 _ 69.00
1950 _ 73.00
1951_ 73.00
1952 _ 76.50
1953 _ 88.00
1954 _ 90. 50
1955 _ 93.70
1956 _ 97.37
1957 _105. 50
1958 _116. 50
1959 _116. 50
1960 _ _
1961_116. 50
26. Under retirement-replacement-betterment accounting, plaintiff’s capital accounts for rail and joint materials reflect the original cost of the first assets installed, and the betterment portion of subsequent replacements, but all replacements (and the replacement portion of betterments) are ex-pensed. The result is that plaintiff’s capital account for rail and joint materials is a residuum of original costs, and does not reflect current costs, except to the extent of the current cost of betterments. Principal reasons for using retirement-replacement-betterment accounting are ease of recordkeeping for an account with many assets which are repeatedly replaced, and compliance with the accounting methods set forth in the Uniform System of Accounts for Railroad 'Companies prescribed by the Interstate Commerce Commission. A result of using retirement-replacement-betterment accounting (combined with the rising cost of rail after World War II) is that the railroads’ track accounts today are between one-
27. Other railroads used assigned values for secondhand rail in 1955 which differed from plaintiff’s value of $25 per gross ton ($22.32 per net ton). For example, the Baltimore & Ohio Bailroad Company used a value of $43.76 per net ton, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company used $54.09 per net ton, and the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company used $63.34 per net ton. Other railroads used values comparable to or lower than plaintiff’s.
28. In 1964, pursuant to a request by plaintiff, the national office of the Internal Revenue Service issued a letter of technical advice which called for valuation of plaintiff’s secondhand rail at fair market value or cost, whichever is lower. In 1967, Rev. Rui. 67-145,1967-1 Cum. Burn.. 54, was issued, which required utilization solely of “fair market value” in the valuation of plaintiff’s secondhand rail. Rev. Proc. 68-46, 1968-2 Cum. Bull. 961, requires that “fair market value” for a year in question be determined by “averaging the new and scrap prices” for rail in that year.
Protective Work Issue
29. In 1955, plaintiff carried out 28 construction projects (total cost: $121,026.70) directed to protecting and maintaining its track facilities near waterways. The work was generally of five types: (a) channel and waterway diversion, (b) construction of dikes, dams and jetties, (c) grade rais-ings, (d) riprap and bank protection, and (e) bridge and culvert extensions or modifications.
(a) One project related to channel and waterway diversion. A creek which ran along plaintiff’s track embankment at Dudley, Iowa, had changed course and was eroding away the embankment soil. To arrest the erosion, the creek channel was straightened so to divert the waterflow away from the embankment. Earlier attempts to arrest erosion by use of riprap were unsuccessful.
(b) Six projects related to construction of dikes, dams and jetties. Five of them involved building rock-filled timber cribs, steel jetties and, in one instance, a retaining wall, in
(c) One project related to grade raising. A railroad bridge over the Mississippi River, north of Canton, Missouri, was raised to allow passage thereunder of drift during heavy rains. The river had silted up near the bridge, thus raising its bed. Silting up occurred because a dam was built upstream which changed the waterflow velocity and pattern in the river. The accumulation of drift threatened the integrity of the bridge.
(d) Two projects related to riprap and bank protection. In both projects, riprap was placed along the banks of a river or creek to slow down and divert waterflow and arrest further erosion and deterioration of rail embankments.
(e) Eighteen of the projects related to bridge and culvert extensions or replacements. In general, the projects involved modification of existing culverts, trestles, walls, and pipes to alter or divert waterflow which was eroding and endangering rail lines and embankments. In some instances, new culverts, trestles, walls, or pipes were installed near existing facilities of a like nature in order to accommodate changed overflow patterns which threatened the integrity of the embankments.
30. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue disallowed
31. Eailroad embankments bave an indefinite service life. Unless attacked by outside forces, they remain in serviceable condition so long as tbe railroad operates trains over its rail lines. Embankments near waterways are built originally by plaintiff using good engineering practices to provide permanent protection against water erosion. However, unforeseen and unforeseeable changes in waterflow patterns near the embankments sometimes require remedial steps to arrest erosion. It is not possible to predict when remedial steps will be necessary. Plaintiff is engaged in a continuous program of inspection and evaluation of damage to its embankments. When necessary to correct deterioration, the steps taken are intended to arrest the problem and prevent a premature end to the service life of the embankment. The nature of the corrective work done depends upon the severity of damage and the possibility of continued damage. The work is done in the simplest and cheapest manner under the circumstances to insure an end to the particular erosion problem and to keep the rail line in safe operating condition. None of the work here in issue increased the original service life or value of the embankments but rather prevented a premature end to such service life.
Vacation Pay Accrual Issue
32. In 1955, plaintiff accrued and took as a deduction on its Federal income tax return an amount estimated to be its liability for vested vacation pay earned by its employees in 1955 and payable in 1956. Because plaintiff did not know how much it would in fact pay out in 1956 for vacation liability accrued in 1955, it had to estimate its liability on the basis of past experience.
33. Prior to 1955, plaintiff used the following method to estimate its vacation pay liability accrued during a given year: To calculate its accrued liability, say for 1952 as an example, plaintiff first determined the actual payments made to its employees in 1952 (for vacation pay liability accrued in 1951). The amount of actual payments made in 1952 was
Following the above example one step further, the tax deduction taken for 1952 would be $5,150,000, adjusted by an amount to compensate for any difference between what was actually paid in 1952 ($5,000,000) and the actual deduction taken in 1951. Thus, if the deduction for 1951 was $5,500,000 ($500,000 more than was subsequently paid out in 1952), the deduction for 1952 would be correspondingly reduced, i.e., $5,150,000 less $500,000, or $4,650,000.
34. (a) Starting in 1955, plaintiff changed its method of estimating accrued vacation pay liability. Although plaintiff maintained its books of account on the basis of the calendar year, it closed its books for vacation pay liability purposes at the end of the first 10 months of 1955. Thus, plaintiff did not calculate the payments made for vacations taken during the last 2 months of 1955. Rather, plaintiff estimated the payments made during the last 2 months of 1955 by looking back to the actual payments made in 1954. In 1954,19.69 percent of all vacation payments for the whole year were made in the last 2 months; therefore, plaintiff assumed the same percentage would prevail in 1955. Plaintiff’s accrued liability for 1955 was thus calculated by summing up three figures: the actual payments made in the first 10 months of 1955; 19.69 percent of that amount;
(b) In a letter to the Internal Revenue Service dated June 8, 1962, plaintiff made the following explanation of why it changed its method of estimating accrued vacation pay liability for 1955:
Hs * * * *
Prior to 1954 vacation pay liability was not accrued in the books of account, being accrued for tax purposes only. It was therefore possible at times to make estimates after the accounts were closed for the year, making for greater accuracy. For example, the estimate for vacation pay liability for the year 1948 was not made until March 1949 and the actual amount of $2,602,666 was available.
Beginning in the year 1954 vacation pay liability has been accrued in the books of account making it necessary to base the accrual on information available at the time the books are closed. This results in some variance between estimates and actual payments in the following years.
* * * * *
35. Based on the method outlined in finding 34(a), plaintiff estimated it would pay out in 1956, $5,544,003.52 for vacation time taken (calculated by summing (a) $4,372,-649.93, the amount actually paid out in the first 10 months of 1955, (b) $860,974.77, which is 19.69 percent of $4,372-649.93,
36. The deduction claimed on plaintiff’s 1955 tax return for liability for accrued vacation pay was $5,405,201. The
Mexican Tax Credit Issue
37. In 1955, certain rolling stock owned by plaintiff was operated by Mexican railroads over lines located in Mexico. Plaintiff received rental payments from the Mexican railroads for their use of its rolling stock.
38. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) sets per diem rental rates for freight cars which are operated off the line owning the car and on other railroad lines. The freight car per diem rate for 1955 was $2.40, which was the amount that one United States or Canadian railroad paid another United States or Canadian railroad for each calendar day a freight car owned by the second railroad remained on the first railroad’s lines. The per diem rate paid by the Mexican railroads in 1955 for use of American freight cars was $3.40, of which $1.00 was withheld by the Mexican railroads as payment for tax due the Mexican Government and $2.40 was paid to the American railroad whose cars were used. For 1955, plaintiff claims payment of taxes to Mexico of $85,656.87, for which it claims a tax credit of $74,767.97 under §§ 901-904 of the Internal Revenue Code for 1954.
39. The facts relating to the Mexican income tax law and its relationship to per diem charges for the use by Mexican railroads of American freight cars are set out in findings 12 through 20, 24,25,27, 28, and 31, in Missouri-Illinois R.R. v. United States, 180 Ct. Cl. 1179, 381 F. 2d 1001 (1967). The evidence in this case is fully consistent with those findings; and for convenience they are set out below, substantially verbatim, as findings 40 through 53, the only significant changes being those necessary to reflect the tax year here in issue and the fact of a different plaintiff.
40. In the past the practice had been for a Mexican railroad which used a oar of United States or Canadian ownership to pay to the car owner the Mexican per diem rate minus a percentage of that rate (usually 10 percent) which it was required to withhold under the Mexican income tax law. The amount withheld by the Mexican railroad was turned over
41. On December 31, 1953, a new Mexican federal income tax law was published which took effect on January 1,1954.
42. This Mexican statute, entitled “Ley del Impuesto Sobre la Benta” (which in English is “Income Tax Law”), was applicable to the rentals earned by the plaintiff in Mexico in 1955.
43. Schedule VI of this Mexican statute (entitled “Imposition of Capital”), in part imposes a tax on income derived from:
XIV. — Eentals, prizes, royalties and retributions of all kinds which are received, as owners or holders of personal property or of rolling stock from the persons to whom they grant the use or exploitation of the same without transferring the ownership thereof.
Under Article 129th, the lessor of rolling stock is entitled to certain deductions. However, paragraph XIV provides that those taxpayers to which paragraph III of Article 6th refers, who receive income for any of the reasons set forth in paragraph XIV, shall pay the tax in Schedule I. The plaintiff is a taxpayer within paragraph III of Article 6th. Schedule I provides in Article 26th that the basis of the tax in said schedule shall be the taxable profit which is the difference between the income received by the taxpayer during a period and the deductions authorized by the law. Article 28th of Schedule I provides that when because of the nature and characteristics of the operations carried out by the taxpayer it is not possible, by ordinary procedures, to determine with exactness the taxable income, the department of the treasury may enter into agreements for the determination of the tax base.
45. The Mexican treasury department considered that it was difficult to determine the taxable income of the foreign companies leasing rolling stock into Mexico and to check and verify the expenses and taxable income of these companies. Therefore, the Mexican Government decided to enter into agreements, under Article 28 of the income tax law, for the payment of the tax.
46. On December 31, 1954, an agreement was executed by representatives of United States and Canadian railroads, of the Government of Mexico and of the Government-owned railways of Mexico, with respect to the payment of the tax on the income received by the United States and Canadian railroads from Mexican railroads. This agreement recited that certain United States and Canadian railroads (including the plaintiff herein) received income from sources located in the Republic of Mexico from the rental of rolling stock to the National Railways of Mexico and the Mexican Railway, which income was held to be subject to the Mexican income tax law. The agreement thereafter provided that the income received from the rental of rolling stock while in the Republic of Mexico, by the United States and Canadian railroads which do not operate in Mexico through agencies or branches, was subject to payment of Mexican income tax under Schedule VI of the income tax law; that the Mexican railways were authorized and obligated to retain the tax for which the United States and Canadian railroads were liable, and to account to the Mexican treasury for the amount so retained ; that the amounts retained shall be equal to the tax due; that the payment of the amounts so retained, to the Mexican Government, would be in full satisfaction of the obligations of the United States and Canadian railroads for Mexican income taxes on the rolling stock rentals; that each United States and Canadian railroad was obligated to file an income tax return setting forth all income from the Mexican railroads for the rental of rolling stock and the total Mexican income tax due thereon, and that the department of the treasury
47. The agreement, referred to in the preceding finding, was executed by representatives of United States and Canadian railroads, the Government of Mexico and the National Railways of Mexico and Mexican Railway, relating to the manner of payment of the income tax obligations of the United States and Canadian railroads (including the plaintiff). Its signatories were W. T. Faricy, President of the American Association of Railroads (on behalf of American and Canadian railroads), the Minister of Finance and Public Credit (on behalf of the Government of Mexico), and the General Manager (on behalf of the National Railways of Mexico and Mexican Railway, which were Government-owned). Faricy signed the agreement on October 6, 1954, and the Mexican officials signed it on December 31, 1954. A correct translation of the full text of the agreement, omitting the declarations as to its execution and signatures, is as follows:
AGREEMENT reached on one part by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, represented by the Minister himself Lie. Antonio _ Carillo Flores, the American and Canadian Railroads mentioned in enclosure “A”, [which list includes plaintiff here] represented by Mr. W. T. Faricy, — President of the Association of American Railroads, and the — National Railways of Mexico and Mexican Railway, represented by the General Manager, Licendiado Roberto Amoros, with a view to outline the basis to determine and withhold the income tax payments derived from revenues received through rental of— American and Canadian rolling stock while in the Republic of Mexico.
*346 STATEMENT
Some American and Canadian Railroads receive revenues from sources located in the Republic of Mexico through renting of rolling stock to the National Railways of Mexico and Mexican Railway, said revenue now sub] ect to the Income Tax Law in Mexico.
The Code of Rules on Per-Diem of Freight is outlined in — Circular No. T-225, its supplements and reissues, published by the Association of American Railroads. This Code, in Rule 1, establishes the rate for the use of freight cars which is to be paid for each natural day, and in the future these rates will be called “Per-Diem Basic Rates”. Note No. 1 of _ Rule 1 establishes the per-diem rate for the use of freight cars of American and Canadian ownership while in the Republic of Mexico. This rate, in the future, will be called “Mexican Per-Diem Rate”, which is higher than the basic Per-Diem rate, which difference consists of the amount of the Mexican Income Tax due through revenues for account of rental of rolling stock, which the owners need to pay to the Mexican Government.
Article 201 of the Law decrees the obligation to withhold and pay the accrued tax to persons making payments to subjects of — the tax located abroad from revenues that are taxable under said Law.
With authority provided for in Article 28 of the Income Tax Law and with a view to comply with the tax payment accrued through the rental of rolling stock, this Agreement is reached with the — following provisions:
clauses:
1. The revenue received by American and Canadian Railroads not operating in Mexico through agencies or branches derived from rental of rolling stock while in the Republic of Mexico, is subject to the payment of income tax, as per Item VI.
2. The National Railways of Mexico and Mexican Railway, with authority provided for in Article 201 of the Income Tax Law, are — compelled to withhold the tax accrued by the American and Canadian-Railroads on payments derived from rental of rolling stock while in the Republic of Mexico. The withholding is to be made on the total of the tax accrued and, therefore, the American and Canadian Railroads are exempt from the obligation decreed in Article 169 of — Rulings of the Income Tax Law, which in essence is the payment of the*347 tax through the cancellation of stamps on receipts issued to — the National Railways of Mexico and Mexican Railway for taxes derived from the rental of rolling stock while in the Republic of Mexico.
•3. The National Railways of Mexico and Mexican Railway agree to pay without discounts to each of the American and Canadian Railroads listed on enclosure “A” signed by each party and included in this — Agreement, the basic Per-Diem rate in effect at the time it is due, to retain the difference between the basic Per-Diem rate and the Mexican Per-Diem rate, and to pay the1 amounts withheld to the Mexican 'Government as the total obligations of the American and Canadian Railroads, in accordance with the Income Tax Law of Mexico regarding the rental of rolling stock.
4. The American and Canadian Railroads are to file with the Ministry of ’Finance and Public Credit during the month of January of each year a declaration of Income Tax earned the previous year, wherein all of the revenues received by the Mexican Railroads through the rental of rolling stock are to be mentioned and the total of the tax due on same.
5. It is agreed that the declarations of Income Tax filed individually by the American and Canadian Railroads listed on enclosure “A”, will include a statement of the total of the taxes mentioned as earned and withheld by the National Railways of Mexico and Mexican Railway, in accordance with Articles 201 and 28 of the Income Tax Law of Mexico. It is also agreed that the revenue for the rental of rolling stock mentioned in said declarations will be computed at the basis of the Mexican Per-Diem rate.
6. The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit of the Republic of Mexico agrees that the withholding of the difference between the Basic Per-Diem rate and the Mexican Per-Diem rate mentioned in — Clause 3, will cover completely all obligations of each of the American and Canadian Railroads listed on enclosure “A” of the Income Tax Law of Mexico on rental of rolling stock. The Ministry agrees, in addition, to furnish to each of the American and Canadian Railroads through a receipt or other form, a statement certifying said obligations.
7. The Ministry of Finance and Public credit will grant the National Railways of Mexico and the Mexican Railway for as long as — this obligation of payment of tax on rental of rolling stock exists, a subsidy equal to the amount of taxes withheld.
*348 8. It is expressly agreed that in the case when some of the American or Canadian Bailroads forming part of this agreement withdraw from same, said railroad or railroads will have the right to do it through advance notice in writing, stating its determination,. 60-days in advance, to the Association of American Bailroads, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit of the Bepublic of Mexico and — the National Bailways of Mexico and Mexican Bailway, with the understanding that this will not destroy the other portions of this agreement, which will continue in effect.
9. It is expressly agreed that the Agreement will have a retroactive character to January 1954, in view of the fact that negotiations between all parties took place from that — date when actually the Agreement was put into effect.
‡ $ H* $
48. On July 18, 1955, a similar agreement was signed by Faricy on behalf of the United States and Canadian railroads and the Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico relating to the manner of payment of the Mexican income tax on the income received from the lease of rolling stock to four privately owned Mexican railway firms.
49. The tax withheld by the Mexican railroads which were parties to the tax agreements was computed, in accordance with such agreements, as the difference between the basic per diem rate and the Mexican per diem rate. In the case of railroads not parties to the agreements, the tax was 10 percent of the gross rental.
50. In the absence of any tax agreements, specific provisions of the Mexican income tax statute provided for the withholding of 10 percent of the gross rentals. In such instances, while the rental income would also be taxed under Schedule I of the Mexican income tax law, deductions would be permitted (such as salaries, overhead, depreciation, and professional services).
51. The Mexican railroads which were not parties to the tax agreements were obligated to pay the amount of the tax withheld from the gross rentals earned, directly to the Mexican treasury department.
52. The Mexican income tax law does not provide for a subsidy to the Mexican railroads, but this law does hold those
53. The tax imposed by the Mexican income tax law upon the per diem freight rentals earned by the plaintiff while its freight cars were in Mexico, and which tax was withheld by the Mexican railroads for the account of the Mexican treasury, is a foreign income tax within the meaning of the United States Interna] Revenue Code.
54. In Missouri Pacific R.R. v. United States, 301 F. Supp. 839 (E.D. Mo. 1987), aff'd in part, rev'd in part and remanded, 411 F. 2d 327 (8th Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 1037 (1970), the District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri held, on facts materially identical to those in the instant case, that the taxpayer was entitled to a tax credit for taxes withheld by the Mexican railroads and paid to the Mexican Government. On appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, 411 F. 2d 327, 328 (1969), that court held—
The primary question below was whether the taxes paid to the Republic of Mexico constituted an income tax so as to permit the taxpayer to credit that amount against its United States income tax liability under §§ 901 and 903 of the 1954 Internal Revenue Code, subject to the limitations set forth in § 904 of the Code. The trial court held that the taxes paid to the Republic of Mexico did qualify as income taxes and the government does not appeal this issue.
55. In response to a request for admissions submitted by plaintiff to defendant, defendant admitted as follows:
* * * if, in fact, a tax was imposed on plaintiff by the Government of Mexico, and if, in fact, a tax was paid by the plaintiff to the Government of Mexico, then for purposes of this litigation such tax may be deemed an income tax, or a tax in lieu of an income tax, within the meaning and contemplation of Sections 901-904 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.
56. Plaintiff’s net income from Mexico, attributable to per diem charges earned from the rental of plaintiff’s freight cars to Mexican railroads in 1955, was determined in accordance with this court’s decision in Missouri-Pacific R.R. v. United States, 183 Ct. Cl. 168, 392 F. 2d 592 (1968). Accord
CONCLUSION OK LAW
Upon the foregoing findings of fact and opinion, which are adopted by the court and made a part of the judgment herein, the court concludes as a matter of law that plaintiff is entitled to recover, together with interest as provided by law, on the claims relating to (1) § 1341 computation, (2) excess salvage value, (3) donated property depreciation, (4) casualty loss, (5) welded rail, (6) protective work, and (7) Mexican tax credit, and judgment is entered to that effect. The court further concludes that plaintiff’s recovery shall be subject to the setoffs raised by defendant with respect to (1) rail salvage value 'and (2) vacation pay accrual. The amount of recovery will be determined in subsequent proceedings under Rule 131 (c).
The estimate for the last 2 months was incorrectly calculated by plaintiff. It should be 19.69 percent of an amount which is equal to the actual payments made in the first 10 months, divided by (1-0.1969). See n. 2, infra.
As noted in n. 1 (finding 34), the correct calculation should have been 19.69 percent of $4,372,649.93/(1-0.1969), which is about $1,070,000. rather than $860,974.77.
