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Tax Memo 1

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Today I spoke with Peaceful Pastures Funeral Home (Peaceful) regarding their request for advice about the accuracy of their audit. They want to know if as an accrual base taxpayer they must report prepaid income in the year it is received or in the year the services are performed.

Facts
Peaceful Pastures is an accrual basis taxpayer that has recently designed a business plan that allows customers to prepay for their funeral services and products that will be provided to them at the time of their death. The prepayments are refundable at any time until the services are performed and products are used. Peaceful recognizes these prepayments as income in the year the funeral goods and services are provided.

Issue
Should an accrual basis taxpayer record prepayments as income in the year they are received or in the year the goods and services are provided?

Conclusion
Peaceful does not have to recognize the payments for their “prepaid services program” as income in the year they are received because they are fully refundable until the date the goods and services are provided.

Analysis
Peaceful’s situation is similar to the case COMM. v. INDIANAPOLIS POWER & LIGHT CO., Cite as 65 AFTR 2d 90-394 (110 S.Ct.589), 01/09/1990, Code Sec(s) 61, where the tax court ruled that the prepayments principal purpose is to serve as security rather than a prepayment of income. Since all prepayments to Peaceful were deemed refundable, they too serve as security rather than income. Since the payments are not “advanced payments” and may be subject to refundability at any moment, they do not constitute as prepaid income. Similar to the company IPL, Peaceful derives economic benefit from the payments but “does not have the requisite "complete dominion" over them at the time they are made, the crucial point for determining taxable income.”

Peaceful has the obligation to

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