United States v. L. Mabel Evans

Taxpayer-appellee Evans is a resident in Terwilliger Plaza, an apartment complex in Portland, Oregon. She properly filed her 1962 tax return and paid the tax due of $47.66. Maintaining that Terwilliger Plaza was a cooperative housing corporation within section 216(b) (1) of the Internal Revenue Code ( 26 U.S.C. § 216 (b) (1)), she filed a claim for refund based on deductions for her proportionate share of the corporation’s interest and taxes. The claim for refund was disallowed, and she brought suit for a refund in the district court, jurisdiction being under 28 U.S.C. § 1346 . Taxpayer Evans prevailed, and the government has appealed to our court, jurisdiction here being under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

The sole question on this appeal is whether the taxpayer was a “tenant-stockholder” of a “cooperative housing corporation” within the meaning of section 216.

Terwilliger Plaza, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation organized under the law of Oregon. It does not issue stock, but is composed of members. Each member pays an original membership fee and a periodic “maintenance fee.” In return, each member gets a life interest in a designated apartment, and participates in management by voting for…