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Michigan Law Review

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Full-Text Articles in Taxation-Federal Estate and Gift

Taxation - Federal Estate Tax - Powers Of Appointment - When Property Subject Thereto Is Taxable As Part Of Donee's Estate - Effect Of A Compromise, Charles J. O'Laughlin Jun 1942

Taxation - Federal Estate Tax - Powers Of Appointment - When Property Subject Thereto Is Taxable As Part Of Donee's Estate - Effect Of A Compromise, Charles J. O'Laughlin

Michigan Law Review

The decedent was a beneficiary of a trust established by his father and of two other trusts created by his mother. From his father's trust the decedent was to receive a portion of the income prior to his twenty-eighth birthday, when he was to receive the principal and accumulated income. His mother's trusts gave him the income for life, subject to certain restrictions before he attained the age of twenty-eight. Under all three trusts he had a general testamentary power of appointment. In case of nonexercise of this power, decedent's descendants were to be default takers under the donor's will, …


Federal Estate And Gift Taxation: A Review, Paul G. Kauper Apr 1942

Federal Estate And Gift Taxation: A Review, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

Today's tax-encumbered citizen is not only aware that death and taxes are certain but also realizes that they walk hand-in-hand. At the most he may experience a sense of nostalgic grief over Pliny the Younger's argument that an inheritance tax "is an 'unnatural' tax, since it augments the grief and sorrow of the bereaved." He knows that as a matter of history Pliny's argument, however touching and delicate, has not deterred ways and means committees, intent on meeting revenue needs.


Taxation - Annuity Contracts - Federal Estate Tax, Charles J. O'Laughlin Apr 1942

Taxation - Annuity Contracts - Federal Estate Tax, Charles J. O'Laughlin

Michigan Law Review

The decedent purchased several single-premium annuity contracts, the annuity payments to be made to her for life, and after her death to a designated second annuitant for life. The Board of Tax Appeals ruled that the policy should not be taxed as a transfer to take effect at death. Held, on appeal, the interest passing to the second anuitant at the death of the decedent should be included in decedent's gross estate under the federal estate tax, since it falls within the provision taxing transfers intended to take effect in possession and enjoyment at or after the death of …


Taxation - Federal Estate Tax - Deduction Allowable For Gifts To Charity When There Has Been A Compromise, William H. Shipley Apr 1942

Taxation - Federal Estate Tax - Deduction Allowable For Gifts To Charity When There Has Been A Compromise, William H. Shipley

Michigan Law Review

The testator gave the residue of his estate to a charity. When the widow of the testator made known her intention to contest the will, the charity offered to give her "a sum equivalent to twenty-five per cent" of the amount it was to receive under the will. The widow then agreed to withdraw all objections to the probate of the will. The executors were not parties to the compromise agreement, nor was it incorporated in, or made a part of, the probate proceedings. The executors filed an estate tax return in which a deduction from the testator's gross estate …


Taxation -- Taxing Income From Short-Term Family Trust To Settlor, William H. Shipley Feb 1942

Taxation -- Taxing Income From Short-Term Family Trust To Settlor, William H. Shipley

Michigan Law Review

In 1931 a settlor executed a deed of trust and transferred securities to the trustees, who were also the settlor's lawyers. The trustees were to pay the income to the settlor's wife, children and mother-in-law. The duration of the trust was six years and sixteen days, but it was provided that the trust would terminate before that time if the settlor or his wife died. At the termination of the trust the corpus was to be returned to the settlor. The settlor reserved no power to remove the trustees or to modify or revoke the trust or to control the …


Taxation - Gift Tax - Transfer In Pursuance Of An Antenuptial Agreement As A Taxable Gift, Michigan Law Review Jan 1942

Taxation - Gift Tax - Transfer In Pursuance Of An Antenuptial Agreement As A Taxable Gift, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff entered into an antenuptial agreement with his intended wife whereby she waived all rights which she might acquire by virtue of the marriage in certain stock which he owned. In consideration therefor, he transferred to her two annuities and an interest as tenant by the entirety in two parcels of real estate. Plaintiff contended that such transfers did not constitute taxable gifts, and the Board of Tax Appeals decided in his favor. Held, that the transfers were taxable gifts, for a waiver of marriage rights in the property of plaintiff pursuant to an antenuptial agreement did not constitute …


Federal Taxation Of Insurance Trusts, Allan F. Smith Dec 1941

Federal Taxation Of Insurance Trusts, Allan F. Smith

Michigan Law Review

The life insurance trust may take many forms and serve a variety of purposes, but for present purposes it may be defined as a trust, at least part of the corpus of which is a policy of life insurance, in which the duty of the trustee is to receive the proceeds of such policy and administer such proceeds as a trust. Such a trust, like any other, may be revocable or irrevocable, and may be funded or unfunded. These various types will be considered separately only where the tax results vary with the type. The present objective is to survey …


Taxation - Optional Valuation Date Under Federal Estate Tax - Inclusion Of Income Received During Year After Decedents Death In The Valuation Of The Gross Estate, Jay W. Sorge Dec 1941

Taxation - Optional Valuation Date Under Federal Estate Tax - Inclusion Of Income Received During Year After Decedents Death In The Valuation Of The Gross Estate, Jay W. Sorge

Michigan Law Review

The executors of three different estates elected the optional valuation date provided in the federal estate tax and were compelled, because of a Treasury regulation, to include rents, interest, and regular dividend payments received during the year after the decedent's death in their valuation of the gross estate. In actions to recover overpayment of the tax, the regulation was upheld by the lower federal courts, and the cases were brought to the Supreme Court by certiorari. Held, regular dividend, interest, and rent payments received by the estate between the decedent's death and the optional valuation date one year later, …


The Impact Of The Law Of Powers Upon Our Internal Revenue Laws, Montgomery B. Angell Jun 1941

The Impact Of The Law Of Powers Upon Our Internal Revenue Laws, Montgomery B. Angell

Michigan Law Review

An interesting difference in view has arisen recently in the halls of the Harvard Law School on the use of powers of appointment under the federal estate tax act. One view is that the chief efficacy today of the power of appointment lies in its capacity for use in tax evasion, which should be corrected. The other view is that there is a salutary tendency toward using sensible and flexible powers of appointment, which should be encouraged in meeting changing and difficult family situations, but which would be checked were the former view accepted. Thus we find here the age-old …


Taxation -Taxability Of Insurance Policies Under The Federal Estate Tax Where Possibility Of Reverter To Insured, Felicia I. Hmiel Jun 1941

Taxation -Taxability Of Insurance Policies Under The Federal Estate Tax Where Possibility Of Reverter To Insured, Felicia I. Hmiel

Michigan Law Review

In 1920 decedent purchased a fifty-thousand-dollar life insurance policy, making his wife beneficiary and providing that if she predeceased him the proceeds should be payable to the executors of his estate. No power to revoke the policy or to change the beneficiary was expressly retained. The decedent predeceased the beneficiary and, in the assessment of the federal estate tax, the proceeds were included as part of his gross estate. The tax was paid, and plaintiff executor brought suit to recover an alleged overpayment of the estate tax because of the inclusion in the gross estate of the proceeds of the …


Taxation - Gift Tax - Each Beneficiary Of Trust As Donee For Purpose Of Exemption Provision, Alfred I. Rothman Jun 1941

Taxation - Gift Tax - Each Beneficiary Of Trust As Donee For Purpose Of Exemption Provision, Alfred I. Rothman

Michigan Law Review

In 1935, the donor created a trust for the benefit of seven children. The donor in her gift tax return, pursuant to section 504b of the Gift Tax Act, excluded from the taxable amount $5,000 for each child. The commissioner's action in treating the trustee as the donee and in allowing a single deduction of $5,000 was sustained by the Board of Tax Appeals. The circuit court of appeals reversed. Held, that the taxpayer was entitled to seven deductions, one for each beneficiary under the trust. Helvering v. Hutchings, (U.S. 1941) 61 S. Ct. 653.


Taxation Of Annuity Contracts Under Estate And Inheritance Taxes, Robert Meisenholder Apr 1941

Taxation Of Annuity Contracts Under Estate And Inheritance Taxes, Robert Meisenholder

Michigan Law Review

A glance at any authoritative encyclopedia will confirm the fact that annuity transactions of one sort or another have existed since earliest civilized times. It was not until 1762, however, that the first insurance company of the world was established; at that time began the issuance of annuity contracts similar to our modem contracts. The popularity of such contracts has increased and decreased at various periods in Great Britain. But in the United States, they have assumed importance only since the beginning of this century and have attained a relatively widespread popularity only since the years of prosperity in the …


Taxation - Death Taxes - Gifts In Contemplation Of Death, Kenneth J. Nordstrom Mar 1941

Taxation - Death Taxes - Gifts In Contemplation Of Death, Kenneth J. Nordstrom

Michigan Law Review

The problem arising when estate and inheritance taxes reach out and attempt to include transfers which have been completed inter vivos are of current importance in state and federal litigation. A survey of the cases shows that the courts and legislatures are making a constant effort to fix and determine a workable rule for the application of a tax on transfers which have been made in life under circumstances so closely related to death that they may, in nature and effect, be properly classified as transfers made in contemplation of death. The problem is of no small moment, for perplexing …


Paul's Studies In Federal Taxation, Third Series -A Review, Josiah Willard Feb 1941

Paul's Studies In Federal Taxation, Third Series -A Review, Josiah Willard

Michigan Law Review

This Third Series of Mr. Paul's Studies in Federal Taxation is a welcome addition to the literature on the subject. Too few members of the tax bar reduce their views on the subject to writing, and many of those who do apparently feel that they must never concede any merit to a contention of the treasury on any doubtful point, for fear that such a concession will be used against them by some treasury attorney in the future. On the other hand, many academic writers on the subject tend to assume that every decision in favor of the taxpayer represents …


Taxation - Federal Income Tax - Intangible Satisfaction From Gift As Income To The Donor, Walter B. Connolly Jan 1941

Taxation - Federal Income Tax - Intangible Satisfaction From Gift As Income To The Donor, Walter B. Connolly

Michigan Law Review

Respondent, the owner of negotiable bonds, detached from them negotiable interest coupons shortly before their due date and delivered them as a gift to his son, who in the same year collected them at maturity. The commissioner of internal revenue ruled that the interest payments were taxable to the respondent donor. The circuit court of appeals reversed the order of the board of tax appeals sustaining the tax. Held, the commissioner was correct in including such interest payments in the taxable income of the donor. Helvering v. Horst, (U.S. 1940) 61 S. Ct. 144.


Taxation - Federal Income Tax - Exemption Of Life Insurance Proceeds When Paid In The Form Of Annuity, Spencer E. Irons Jan 1941

Taxation - Federal Income Tax - Exemption Of Life Insurance Proceeds When Paid In The Form Of Annuity, Spencer E. Irons

Michigan Law Review

A taxpayer was the beneficiary of life insurance policies which required the insurance company to make fifty annual payments of $2,000 each. At the death of the insured in 1917, the commuted value of this obligation was $53,000. Prior to 1934, the taxpayer had received seventeen payments, aggregating $45,473.40, no part of which had been reported as income. For the year 1934, the taxpayer received $2,581.40, of which $2,000 was the annual payment, and $581.40 was an "excess interest" dividend. He again failed to include any of the amount in his gross income. The commissioner determined that under the Revenue …


Taxation - Inheritance And Estate Taxes - Powers Of Appointment, William L. Howland Dec 1940

Taxation - Inheritance And Estate Taxes - Powers Of Appointment, William L. Howland

Michigan Law Review

From time immemorial, problems arising from the creation and exercise of powers of appointment have proven enigmatic to the judiciary. These problems are not decadent but still possess an abundance of vitality. The increased complexity of statutes imposing death taxes has tended to foment litigation. These two fertile sources of intricate problems, in combination, have borne the apprehended fruits. The taxation of powers of appointment has created problems of infinite variety, harassing alike the attorney, the judge and the legislator. The questions involved are not simply of academic or theoretical importance. Under our modern death tax statutes the questions are …


Taxation - Income Tax - Taxability Of Income Of Alimony Trust To Husband-Settlor-Rule Of Douglas V. Willcuts, Benjamin W. Franklin Jun 1940

Taxation - Income Tax - Taxability Of Income Of Alimony Trust To Husband-Settlor-Rule Of Douglas V. Willcuts, Benjamin W. Franklin

Michigan Law Review

Three recent decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Helvering v. Fitch, Helvering v. Leonard, and Helvering v. Fuller, all involving an application of the rule of Douglas v. Willcuts, raise the question of what that rule means in its practical application. Stated briefly, that rule is that the income from a so-called alimony trust is taxable to the husband-settlor whenever it discharges a continuing obligation for him.


Taxation - Federal Estate Tax - Transfers In Which Decedent Had Reserved A Contingent Reversionary Interest - St. Louis Union Trust Cases Overruled, Robert M. Warren Jun 1940

Taxation - Federal Estate Tax - Transfers In Which Decedent Had Reserved A Contingent Reversionary Interest - St. Louis Union Trust Cases Overruled, Robert M. Warren

Michigan Law Review

In 1919 decedent transferred property in irrevocable trust, income to be paid to X for life and on X's death, the corpus and accumulated income to be returned to the settlor, if he should then be living; but if he should then be dead, remainder to Y. The settlor predeceased the life beneficiary and the commissioner included the trust property in decedent's gross estate under section 302 (c) of the federal estate tax. The board of tax appeals reversed this determination, and the board was upheld by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, …


Taxation - Federal Estate Tax - What Is A General Power Of Appointment Within The Meaning Of The Federal Statute?, John H. Pickering Jun 1940

Taxation - Federal Estate Tax - What Is A General Power Of Appointment Within The Meaning Of The Federal Statute?, John H. Pickering

Michigan Law Review

Decedent exercised her testamentary power to appoint the income of a discretionary trust. The commissioner declared a tax deficiency for failure to include the property subject to the power in the gross estate. The executor appealed on the ground that the power was a special power under Wisconsin law since the trustee could withhold the income from any beneficiary. Held, the power was general since it was exercisable in favor of the donee's estate or her creditors and therefore the exercise of the power was taxable under section 302(f) of the Revenue Act of 1926. Morgan v. Commissioner, …


Federal Estate And Gift Tax: Concept Of A Transfer, Henry J. Merry May 1940

Federal Estate And Gift Tax: Concept Of A Transfer, Henry J. Merry

Michigan Law Review

The first of the "modern" federal death tax laws, enacted in 1916 "imposed upon the transfer of the net estate of every decedent" a tax measured essentially by the net value of certain property interests at the time of his death. The tax was upheld as an indirect tax or excise upon the privilege of transmitting property at death and its fundamental nature has never been changed. There has been, however, an almost continuous controversy as to the property interests which may and should be included in the basic measure of the tax-the gross estate--and the present law embodies numerous …


Taxation - Jurisdiction - Classification Of Property As Tangible Or Intangible, John L. Rubsam May 1940

Taxation - Jurisdiction - Classification Of Property As Tangible Or Intangible, John L. Rubsam

Michigan Law Review

Respondent's decedent died testate in 1936 and was at the time of his death a resident of and domiciled in Oregon. In earlier years when he resided in Wisconsin he placed various stocks, bonds and other intangibles in the possession of an Illinois trust company, which acted as his agent in collecting and investing the principal and income on these securities. These securities were always physically present in Illinois, never in Oregon. About six months before his death respondent's decedent directed the trust company to sell some of his bonds and purchase $450,000 worth of federal irrevocable trust for the …


Taxation - Income Tax - Liability Of Settlors Of Irrevocable Short Term Trusts, Robert M. Warren Apr 1940

Taxation - Income Tax - Liability Of Settlors Of Irrevocable Short Term Trusts, Robert M. Warren

Michigan Law Review

In a recent significant decision the Supreme Court of the United States has declared that, under certain circumstances, income from irrevocable short-term trusts may be taxed to the settlor. This conclusion is contrary to the previously accepted notion that there was no authority for such a tax under existing provisions of the Revenue Act. In the light of this and other recent decisions the matter of taxation of income from short-term trusts assumes renewed significance.


Taxation - Federal Gift Tax - Cancellation Of A Power Todesignate New Beneficiaries Other Than The Settlor - Interrelationship Of Gift And Estate Tax, Robert M. Warren Feb 1940

Taxation - Federal Gift Tax - Cancellation Of A Power Todesignate New Beneficiaries Other Than The Settlor - Interrelationship Of Gift And Estate Tax, Robert M. Warren

Michigan Law Review

Before the enactment of the 1924 gift tax statute, decedent created a trust for the benefit of named beneficiaries, reserving to himself power both to revoke and to modify the trust. In 1919 the decedent made a surrender of the power to revoke the trust by a writing which reserved the power to designate new beneficiaries other than himself. This latter power was renounced in 1924 after the effective date of the gift tax statute. The Board of Tax Appeals and the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the commissioner's ruling that the gift became complete and …


Taxation -- Insurance And Annuity Contracts Under The Federal Estate Tax -- Differentiation And Theories Of Taxation, Charles F. Dugan Feb 1940

Taxation -- Insurance And Annuity Contracts Under The Federal Estate Tax -- Differentiation And Theories Of Taxation, Charles F. Dugan

Michigan Law Review

In the taxpayer's quest for methods of avoidance of the federal estate tax, one field seems to have been generally overlooked; viz., annuity contracts that are so similar to insurance policies as to be treated like the latter for tax purposes, thus securing the benefit of the $40,000 exemption in section 302 (g). Various reasons might be suggested why this should be so, but the fact remains that there has been practically no discussion of the subject in legal publications and, until the recent case of Old Colony Trust Co. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, no litigation involving the …


Taxation-Federal Estate Tax-Joint Tenancy-Retroactivity, Richard S. Brawerman Dec 1939

Taxation-Federal Estate Tax-Joint Tenancy-Retroactivity, Richard S. Brawerman

Michigan Law Review

The recent decision by the Supreme Court in United States v. Jacobs deals with the troublesome issue of retroactivity under the federal estate tax law. The decedent whose estate was involved in this case had paid the entire consideration for certain real estate which was conveyed to himself and his wife as joint tenants. This transaction took place in 1909. The decedent died in 1924, shortly after the effective date of the Revenue Act of that year. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue included the entire value of the real estate in the decedent's gross estate. The executors paid the tax …


Taxation - Federal Estate Tax - Life Insurance Payable To Specific Beneficiary, Roy L. Steinheimer Dec 1939

Taxation - Federal Estate Tax - Life Insurance Payable To Specific Beneficiary, Roy L. Steinheimer

Michigan Law Review

Six life insurance policies were taken out by decedent upon his own life between March 19, 1925 and January 2, 1929. On July 20, 1932 the decedent, by an instrument in writing, made an assignment of the policies to his wife and named her the beneficiary under the policies. From the date of the assignment until the date of his death, the decedent did not possess any incidents of ownership of the policies though he continued to pay the premiums. The wife of the decedent sued to recover the amount of the tax, assessed and paid on the net proceeds …


Taxation-Procedural Devices For Preventing Multiple Taxation Of Intangibles Based On Domicile - Original Suit By Way Of Interpleader Before Supreme Court, Edmund O'Hare Jun 1939

Taxation-Procedural Devices For Preventing Multiple Taxation Of Intangibles Based On Domicile - Original Suit By Way Of Interpleader Before Supreme Court, Edmund O'Hare

Michigan Law Review

The famous Dorrance litigation raised very sharply the problem of avoiding multiple inheritance taxes based upon conflicting claims of domicile. Up to that time it was thought that the right of a state to levy an inheritance tax upon intangible personal property owned by a nonresident decedent had been effectively denied by Farmers Loan & Trust Co. v. Minnesota, Baldwin v. Missouri, and First National Bank of Boston v. Maine. But the Dorrance cases resulted in the collection of huge inheritance taxes by Pennsylvania and New Jersey, both states grounding their assessments upon the assertion that Dr. Dorrance …


Taxation - Federal Estate Tax - Inter Vivos Trust As Gift To Take Effect In Possession Or Enjoyment At Death, Edmund O'Hare Feb 1939

Taxation - Federal Estate Tax - Inter Vivos Trust As Gift To Take Effect In Possession Or Enjoyment At Death, Edmund O'Hare

Michigan Law Review

On May 14, 1919, decedent set up six trusts, appointing life estates with remainders over. Each trust deed provided: "This Trust may, during the lifetime of the Grantor, be amended or revoked on the joint consent of the Grantor and the Trustees." The remainderman, who was the same person in each trust, was also one of the three trustees. Decedent died on September 4, 1928. The Board of Tax Appeals sustained the contention of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue that the value of the life estates should be included in the decedent's gross estate by virtue of section 302 (c) …


Taxation-Income Tax-Discretionary Application Of Income Of Irrevocable Trust To Maintenance Of Settlor's Children-Taxability To Settlor, Benjamin H. Dewey Feb 1939

Taxation-Income Tax-Discretionary Application Of Income Of Irrevocable Trust To Maintenance Of Settlor's Children-Taxability To Settlor, Benjamin H. Dewey

Michigan Law Review

Settlors, husband and wife, established certain irrevocable trusts with themselves and another as trustees, and the children of the settlors as beneficiaries. The income from the trust property was to be accumulated, and a certain percentage of the corpus and accumulated income was to be distributed to the beneficiaries as they respectively reached certain specified ages. The trust agreement further provided that the trustees should have the power to expend from the corpus or income such sums as they should deem necessary and advisable for the maintenance, education and support of the beneficiaries, or to defray expenses arising from sickness, …