Hollywood Baseball Association v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

Hollywood Baseball Association seeks review of a decision of the Tax Court. This is the second time that the case has been before us. The first decision of the Tax Court is reported at 42 T.C. 234 (1964). We affirmed, 1965, 352 F.2d 350 . On certiorari, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded for reconsideration in the light of Malat v. Riddell, 1966, 383 U.S. 569 , 86 S.Ct. 1030 , 16 L.Ed.2d 102 . Hollywood Baseball Ass’n v. Commissioner, 1966, 383 U.S. 824 , 86 S.Ct. 1221 , 16 L.Ed.2d 291 . We remanded to the Tax Court for new findings. The Tax Court again decided for the Commissioner, 1968, 49 T.C. 338 . We affirm.

The facts are stated in detail in the first decision of the Tax Court. In the decision now under review, the Tax Court did not receive additional evidence. It found that Hollywood’s “player contracts were petitioner’s stock in trade, held principally for sale to customers in the ordinary course of its trade or business within the intendment of section 337 [I.R.C. § 337(b) (1) (A)] as construed by the Supreme Court in Malat. * * ” The opinion, however, makes it clear that this “finding” is a legal conclusion that the player contracts “were an integral part of, and at…