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Income Tax--Capital Gains Tax--Meaning Of "More Than 80 Percent In Value Of The Outstanding Stock" Under Section 1239, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The sale of property by a taxpayer to a corporation which he controls has been a frequently attempted method of tax reduction for more than thirty years. Such a transaction has the advantage of maintaining ownership of the property in virtually the same hands, while at the same time resulting in a substantial mitigation of tax liability. For instance, in the post-World War II period, when property values were generally increasing, a taxpayer could sell to his controlled corporation at a gain depreciable property with a basis lowered by adjustments for prior depreciation allowances. The gain was immediately taxable at …