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The Treatment Of Nominee Corporations For Income Tax Purposes, Norton L. Steuben

Seattle University Law Review

This Article traces the development of the nonentity and agency approaches to the treatment of nominee corporations. The nonentity approach had a short lifespan and is of little use today. The agency approach, in contrast, experienced a period of development that resulted in a complex six-factor test that was employed in at least three circuits. When a conflict in the application of the six-factor test developed, the Supreme Court in Commissioner v. Bollinger enunciated a different approach and established a new, more workable standard. This Article explores the limitations of that standard as well as its practical application for planners.