Estate of Schwartz v. Commissioner

83 T.C. No. 51, 83 T.C. 943, 1984 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 3
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedDecember 17, 1984
DocketDocket No. 17918-82
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 83 T.C. No. 51 (Estate of Schwartz v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of Schwartz v. Commissioner, 83 T.C. No. 51, 83 T.C. 943, 1984 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 3 (tax 1984).

Opinions

OPINION

Swift, Judge:

In a statutory notice dated April 20, 1982, respondent determined a deficiency of $16,515.84 in the Federal estate tax liability of the Estate of Henry K. Schwartz. The only issue for decision is whether the estate is entitled to a Federal estate tax credit for estate taxes paid to Spain with respect to certain bank deposits the decedent owned in branches of Spanish banks. That issue turns on whether the bank deposits are located within Spain under section 2014 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as amended.1

This case was submitted fully stipulated pursuant to Rule 122, Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure. The stipulated facts are incorporated herein by this reference and are summarized below.

The decedent, Henry K. Schwartz, died intestate on May 3, 1978, in Madrid, Spain. Letters of administration were issued by the Surrogate’s Court of Kings County, NY, to Suzanne Schwartz, Robert Schwartz, and Mark Stewart, each of whom is a child of decedent. Following the granting of an application for extension of time, a Federal estate tax return was timely filed on August 1, 1979.

Decedent was born on May 31, 1914, in Brooklyn, NY, and was therefore a U.S. citizen. On the date of death, decedent was a resident of Spain, where he had resided since September 19, 1969. Prior to his retirement in 1969, decedent had been a medical doctor in the United States. Decedent was not engaged in any trade or business in Spain throughout the time he resided in Spain.

On the date of death, decedent had the following sums on deposit in accounts with branches in Spain of Spanish commercial banks:

Amount stated in Amount stated in Spanish ptas U.S. dollars
Banco Atlántico Madrid, Spain. 14.575.189,83 $182,198
Banco Coco Madrid, Spain. 5.093.87 64
Total. 14.580.283,70 182,262

The deposits in the above bank accounts were not connected with any trade or business of the decedent in Spain.

On the date of death, decedent also owned a condominium apartment located in Madrid, Spain, and the furnishings therein. The fair market values of those properties on the date of decedent’s death were as follows:

Amount stated in Spanish ptas Amount stated in U.S. dollars
Condominium apartment. 1.047.049,00 $13,088
Furnishings. 400.000,00 5.000
Total. 1.447.049,00 18,088

The bank deposits referred to above, the condominium apartment, and the furnishings therein were the subject of estate taxes imposed by the Government of Spain. The administrators of the estate paid those taxes on November 30, 1978, in the total amount of 1.971.116,00 Spanish ptas, representing US$27,516.78, at the exchange rate prevailing on the date of payment. That amount was reported on Form 906CE, and a foreign tax credit for the full amount of estate taxes paid to Spain was claimed by the estate. In the notice of deficiency, respondent disallowed the portion of the foreign estate tax credit that was claimed with respect to the bank deposits, based on his determination that the bank deposits were not situated in Spain within the meaning of section 2014.

Petitioner argues that the bank deposits were located within Spain in every practical and economic sense and that under the pertinent statutory provisions, the bank deposits must be treated as located within Spain for Federal estate tax purposes. To the extent the applicable Treasury regulations require an opposite result, petitioner argues that the regulations are unreasonable and invalid. Regardless of where the deposits were located from an economic standpoint, respondent argues that under the controlling statutory and regulatory provisions, decedent is deemed to have been a nonresident of Spain and decedent’s bank deposits must be treated as if they were located outside of Spain. Respondent therefore concludes that petitioner is not entitled to a Federal estate tax credit for estate taxes paid to Spain with respect to those bank deposits. One court decision supports respondent’s interpretation of the applicable law, namely, Borne v. United States, an unreported case (N.D. Ind. 1983, 52 AFTR 2d 83-6444, 83-2 USTC par. 13,536). For the reasons explained below, we agree with petitioner.

One is tempted to reach a conclusion herein simply on the basis of the realities of the location of the bank deposits in question — namely, the deposits were made in a Spanish branch of a Spanish bank by decedent, a Spanish resident; and respondent’s argument that such property should be treated as located outside Spain could be rejected out of hand as nonsensical. However, a more judicious approach requires a detailed analysis of the applicable statutory and regulatory provisions. We will first discuss the relevant statutory provisions, followed by a discussion of the regulations and of the two decisions on which respondent relies.

With respect to estates of decedents who were either U.S. citizens or U.S. residents on the date of death, section 2014(a) (with certain limitations and subject to any treaty in effect between the United States and the foreign country2) allows a credit against Federal estate taxes due for foreign estate, inheritance, legacy, or succession taxes that are actually paid to any foreign country with respect to property that is both includable in the gross estate and situated within the foreign country.3 Section 2014(a) requires a determination, among other things, of whether property is "situated within [the] foreign country.” Thus, in this case, we must determine whether the decedent’s bank deposits with Spanish banks are to be treated as being located within Spain on the date of decedent’s death. It is not enough if the deposits are only to be treated as being located outside of the United States or in some foreign country. Under the statute, they must be treated as having been located within Spain on the date of death.

Subchapter A of chapter 11 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as amended governs the estates of decedents who were either U.S. citizens or residents of the United States on the date of death. Subchapter B of chapter 11 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as amended governs the estates of decedents who were both nonresidents of the United States and not citizens of the United States. Decedent herein was not a U.S. resident, but he was a U.S. citizen, on the date of death, and therefore he is governed by the provisions of subchapter A.

Thereunder, section 2014(a). addresses the question but provides no specific rules for the determination of the location of property of decedents who were either U.S. residents or U.S. citizens. Rather, section 2014(a) simply makes reference to and incorporates the rules applicable to decedents who were neither U.S. citizens nor U.S. residents (which rules are found in subchapter B of chapter 11 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as amended — specifically in sections 2104 and 2105), and makes those rules applicable to a decedent who otherwise is governed by section 2014 (because of his status as either a U.S.

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Estate of Schwartz v. Commissioner
83 T.C. No. 51 (U.S. Tax Court, 1984)

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Bluebook (online)
83 T.C. No. 51, 83 T.C. 943, 1984 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-schwartz-v-commissioner-tax-1984.