The Ninth Circuit recently reversed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the government in Linton on the issues of indirect gift and the applicability of the step transaction doctrine. The circuit court’s analysis focused on the taxpayers’ donative intent. With that emphasis,...

Jorgensen provides a common FLP story with a familiar conclusion. Under section 2036, the estate did not receive those coveted FLP discounts and paid taxes on the full value of the assets transferred to their FLPs. The court presents a careful, logical, and well-reasoned decision that should...

Fair market value is defined in the section 2031 Regulations. For its validity, that definition of fair market value relies on the normal definitions of its significant terms: a seller is someone who is seeking the highest price for her product and a buyer is someone who wants to obtain the...

In this article, I elaborate on three solutions to the illogical and sexist QTIP provisions. Solution #1 is to require the surviving spouse be the one who can make the QTIP election; Solution #2 is to repeal the QTIP provisions, but modify the terminable interest rule. Solution #3 is to repeal...

In Morgens, the court ruled in favor of the government that section 2035(b) applied to the gift taxes paid by the qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust beneficiaries to gross up the widow’s estate by that amount. Because the surviving (or donee) spouse must be taxed on the...