Revenue Ruling 70-604

IRS Headnote.
Excess assessments by a condominium management corporation, over and above the amounts used for the operation of condominium property, that are returned to the stockholder-owners or applied to the following year's assessments are not taxable income to the corporation.

Full Text.
A condominium management corporation assesses its stockholder-owners for the purposes of managing, operating, maintaining, and replacing the common elements of the condominium property. This is the sole activity of the corporation and its by-laws do not authorize it to engage in any other activity.

A meeting is held each year by the stockholder-owners of the corporation, at which they decide what is to be done with any excess assessments not actually used for the purposes described above, i.e., they decide either to return the excess to themselves or to have the excess applied against the following year's assessments.

Held, the excess assessments for the taxable year over and above the actual expenses paid or incurred for the purposes described above are not taxable income to the corporation, since such excess, in effect, has been returned to the stockholder-owners.