Partnership Formed Without an Independant Business Purpose Are Disregaded

Sham Partnerships Are Disregarded

When a transaction is treated as a sham, the form of the transaction is disregarded in determining the proper tax treatment of the parties to the transaction. 

A transaction that is entered into primarily to reduce taxes and that has no economic or commercial objective to support it is a sham and is without effect for federal income tax purposes. Frank Lyon Co. v. United States, 435 U.S. 561 (1978); Rice's Toyota World Inc. v. Commissioner, 752 F.2d 89, 92 (4th Cir. 1985).

 Whether a court will respect the taxpayer's characterization of the transaction depends on whether there is a bona fide transaction with economic substance, compelled or encouraged by business or regulatory realities, imbued with tax-independent considerations, and not shaped primarily by tax avoidance features that have meaningless labels attached. See Frank Lyon Co. v. United States, 435 U.S. 561 (1978); ACM Partnership v. Commissioner, 157 F.3d 231 (3rd Cir. 1998), aff'g in relevant part T.C. Memo. 1997-115; Casebeer v. Commissioner, 909 F.2d 1360 (9th Cir. 1990); Rice's Toyota World, Inc. v. Commissioner, 752 F.2d 89 (4th Cir. 1985), aff'g in part 81 T.C. 184 (1983); Compaq v. Commissioner, 113 T.C. 363 (1999); UPS of Am. v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1999-268; Winn-Dixie v. Commissioner, 113 T.C. 254 (1999).

In ACM Partnership, the Tax Court found that the taxpayer desired to take advantage of a loss that was not economically inherent in the object of the sale, but which the taxpayer created artificially through the manipulation and abuse of the tax laws. T.C. Memo. 1997-115. The Tax Court further stated that the tax law requires that the intended transactions have economic substance separate and distinct from economic benefit achieved solely by tax reduction. It held that the transactions lacked economic substance and, therefore, the taxpayer was not entitled to the claimed deductions. Id. The opinion demonstrates that the Tax Court will disregard a series of otherwise legitimate transactions, where the Service is able to show that the facts, when viewed as a whole, have no economic substance.

 Sham the Partnership/Partners

Sham principles may also be applied to the partnership and the partners. In order for a federal tax law partnership to exist, the parties must, in good faith and with a business purpose, intend to join together in the present conduct of an enterprise and share in the profits or losses of the enterprise. The entity's status under state law is not determinative for federal income tax purposes. Commissioner v. Tower, 327 U.S. 280, 287 (1946); Luna v. Commissioner, 42 T.C. 1067, 1077 (1964). The existence of a valid partnership depends on all of the facts, including the agreement of the parties, the conduct of the parties in execution of its provisions, their statements, the testimony of disinterested persons, the relationship of the parties, their respective abilities and capital contributions, the actual control of income and the purposes for which it is used, and any other facts shedding light on the parties' true intent. The analysis of these facts shows whether the parties in good faith and action, with a business purpose, intended to join together for the present conduct of an undertaking or enterprise. Commissioner v. Culbertson, 337 U.S. 733, 742 (1949); ASA Investerings Partnership v. Commissioner, 201 F.3d 505 (D.C. Cir. 2000), aff'g T.C. Memo. 1998-305.

In ASA Investerings, the Tax Court first disregarded several parties as mere agents in determining whether the parties had formed a valid partnership. T.C. Memo. 1998-305. In reaching its conclusion that the remaining parties did not intend to join together in the present conduct of an enterprise, the court found that the parties had divergent business goals.

The Tax Court's opinion was affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. ASA Investerings Partnership v. Commissioner, 201 F.3d 505 (D.C. Cir. 2000). Although the appellate court wrote that parties with different business goals are not precluded from having the intent required to form a partnership, the court affirmed the Tax Court's holding that the arrangement between the parties was not a valid partnership, in part because "[a] partner whose risks are all insured at the expense of another partner hardly fits within the traditional notion of partnership." Id. at 515. The appellate court rejected the taxpayer's argument that the test for whether a partnership is valid differs from the test for whether a transaction's form should be respected, writing that "whether the 'sham' be in the entity or the transaction . . . the absence of a nontax business purpose is fatal." Id. at 512.