Opinion · Supreme Court of the United States

Powers v. Commissioner

312 U.S. 259

Type: Opinion
Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Jurisdiction: Federal
Date: 1941-02-03
Topic: estate-planning

"[W]hat criterion should be employed for determining the 'value' of the gifts is a question of law" | "[W]hat criterion should be employed for determining the 'value' of the gifts is a question of law" | "[W]hat criterion should be employed for determining the 'value' of the gifts is a question of law"

Citator

Cited by: 53 opinions

POWERSv. COMMISSIONER,312 U.S. 259(1941)

POWERSv. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE.

CERTIORARI TO THE CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT.

No. 486.

Argued January 7, 1941.

Decided February 3, 1941.

Determination of the criterion of "value" for the purposes of the gift tax under the Revenue Act of 1932 is a question of law, and a decision of the Board of Tax Appeals that in the case of single-premium policies of life insurance, irrevocably assigned as gifts shortly after issuance, the value of the gifts was the cash surrender value of the policies, was properly reversed by the Circuit Court of Appeals as "not in accordance with law."Guggenheimv.Rasquin, antep. 254. P. 260.115 F.2d 209, affirmed.

CERTIORARI,311 U.S. 640, to review the reversal of a decision

of the Board of Tax Appeals setting aside a determination of a

deficiency in a gift tax.

Mr. Ralph G. Boydfor petitioner.Mr. J. Louis Monarch, with whomSolicitor General Biddle,Assistant Attorney General Clark, andMessrs. Sewall Key,Arnold Raum, andJoseph M. Joneswere on the brief, for respondent.

MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS delivered the opinion of the Court.

The issue in this case is the same as that inGuggenheimv.Rasquin, ante, p. 254. Petitioner in November and December, 1935, purchased single-premium policies of insurance on her own life and late in December, 1935, irrevocably assigned them as gifts. The Commissioner determined a deficiency, claiming that the value of the policies for gift-tax purposes was the cost of duplicating them at the dates of the gifts, not the cash-surrenderPage 260value as reported by petitioner. The Board of Tax Appeals held that the value of the gifts was their cash-surrender value. The Circuit Court of Appeals reversed.115 F.2d 209. That judgment must be affirmed on the authority ofGuggenheimv.Rasquin,supra, unless as claimed by petitioner the court below was precluded from substituting its judgment of value for that of the Board.Helveringv.Rankin,295 U.S. 123,131. But the question of what criterion should be employed for determining the "value" of the gifts is a question of law. SeeLucasv.Alexander,279 U.S. 573. Accordingly, the Circuit Court of Appeals was justified in reversing the decision of the Board as "not in accordance with law." Int. Rev. Code 1939, § 1141(c) (1);53 Stat. 164.Affirmed.