Hurwitz v. United States

208 F. Supp. 594, 10 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6288, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5051
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedAugust 31, 1962
DocketCiv. A. No. 13372
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 208 F. Supp. 594 (Hurwitz v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hurwitz v. United States, 208 F. Supp. 594, 10 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6288, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5051 (S.D. Tex. 1962).

Opinion

JOSEPH C. HUTCHESON, Jr., Circuit Judge.

This is an estate tax case, arising under the Internal Revenue Code of 1939. The plaintiffs, independent executors and independent executrix of the estate of [595]*595Benjamin Samuel Hurwitz, have filed suit for a refund of estate tax, on the ground that the estate was entitled to, but was disallowed, a deduction for property previously taxed in the estate of decedent’s spouse, who predeceased him within less than five years. Plaintiffs have moved for summary judgment on the undisputed facts, and the United States has moved for judgment on the pleadings. The material facts are set forth correctly in the Government’s brief.

Benjamin Samuel Hurwitz died on September 27, 1952. On December 28, 1953, a federal estate tax return was filed for his estate, showing a gross estate of $325,755.15, deductions of $33,793.91, and a tax payable in the amount of $56,881.30.

The decedent’s gross estate of $325,-755.15 included the sum of $145,543.06, which had been bequeathed and devised to Benjamin Samuel Hurwitz by his wife, Raye Gertrude Hurwitz, pursuant to the terms of her will. Raye Gertrude Hurwitz died testate on June 22, 1948.

The aforementioned sum of $145,543.-06 was previously taxed in the estate of Raye Gertrude Hurwitz and is traceable to such estate and was a part of the estate of Benjamin Samuel Hurwitz.

On December 26, 1956, plaintiffs, in their capacity as independent executors and independent executrix, duly and timely filed a claim for refund in the office of the District Director of Internal Revenue for the First District of Texas, praying for a refund of $37,188.37, including principal and interest. This claim for refund was rejected by the Commissioner on or about October 24, 1958.

In their complaint filed on October 21, 1960, the plaintiffs contend that, after all proper limitations, the sum of $95,-433.57 should have been allowed to the estate of Benjamin Samuel' Hurwitz as a deduction for property previously taxed in the estate of Raye Gertrude Hurwitz, with respect to the computation of the additional tax owing by the estate of Benjamin Samuel Hurwitz. Plaintiffs do not question the accuracy of the computation of the basic tax on the estate of Benjamin Samuel Hurwitz, but do question the accuracy of the computation of the additional tax on the estate of Benjamin Samuel Hurwitz.

The question raised by these facts is whether the 1948 amendment to section 812(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, 26 U.S.C.A. § 812(c), eliminating the deduction for property previously taxed in cases in which the prior decedent was the spouse of the present decedent, is applicable both to the basic estate tax and the additional estate tax, as the Government contends, or only to the basic estate tax, as the plaintiffs contend.

Subchapter A (sections 800-931) of Chapter 3 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939 imposes the basic estate tax. That tax is derived from the Revenue Act of 1926, 44 Stat. 69. Section 812 provides that the net estate, upon which the tax is to be based, shall consist of the gross estate, less the deductions set forth in section 812. Section 812(c) allows a deduction for the value of property previously taxed in the estate of a decedent who died within five years prior to the death of the present decedent.

The Revenue Act of 1932, 47 Stat. 243, enacted what is now subchapter B of Chapter 3 of the Code. Section 935 of subchapter B imposes an additional estate tax. Section 935(c) provides that: “For the purposes of this section the net estate shall be determined as provided in subchapter A, except that in lieu of the exemption of $100,000 provided in section 812(a), the exemption shall be $60,000.”

The Revenue Act of 1948, ch. 168, sec. 362, 62 Stat. 121, amended section 812(c) by adding the following paragraph:

“The following property shall not, for the purposes of this subsection, be considered as property with respect to which a deduction may be allowed: (A) property received from a prior decedent who died after [596]*596December 31, 1947, and was at the time of such death the decedent’s spouse * *

Plaintiffs contend that the 1948 amendment did not change the definition of net estate for purposes of computing the additional estate tax under sub-chapter B. They contend that the effeet of section 935(c) was to “incorporate by reference” the definition of net estate provided in subchapter A, as that definition stood at the time that section 935(c) was enacted (1932). For this contention, plaintiffs rely upon the canon of construction that where one statute adopts another, subsequent amendments to the original statute will not affect the adopting statute, unless a contrary intent is clearly shown. Plaintiffs argue that the estate of Benjamin Samuel Hurwitz, in computing the additional tax, should therefore have been allowed a deduction of $95,433.57, for property previously taxed in the estate of Raye Gertrude Hurwitz, who died within five years prior to the death of Benjamin Samuel Hurwitz.

The Government argues that the additional estate tax and the basic estate tax are both computed on the same concept and definition of the net estate. Apart from the different rates imposed and credits allowed, the only difference between the two taxes is the exemption allowed. Since the deduction for property previously taxed is a deduction allowed, if at all, in arriving at the net estate, “it is thus obviously applicable to both additional estate tax and basic estate ^aX-

The canon of construction upon which plaintiffs rely is normally applied to a situation in which one jurisdiction has adopted a statute from another jurisdiction. In such a case, the only connection between the two statutes is the words of adoption or “incorporation.” Because the legislature of one jurisdiction lacks the power to amend the laws of another jurisdiction, subsequent amendments to the adopted statute are held not to affect the adopting statute, unless the legislature of the adopting jurisdiction has clearly manifested an intent that the amendments should do so.

In this case, however, the situation is quite different. The two statutes concerned, sections 812(c) and 935(c), are connected by much more than the mere fact that section 935(c) makes reference to section 812. One legislative body has enacted both statutes. Both statutes are part of one legislative scheme: the estate tax. Both deal with the same subject: computation of the net estate, for purposes of determining the estate tax. The Supreme Court has stated:

“As a general rule, where the legislation dealing with a particular subject consists of a system of related general provisions indicative 0f a settled policy, new enactments 0f a fragmentary nature on that subject are to be taken as intended to fit into the existing system and to be carried into effect conformably to it, excepting as a different purpose is plainly shown.” United States v. Jefferson Electric Co., 1933, 291 U.S. 386, 396, 54 S.Ct. 443, 78 L.Ed. 859.

That rule states the approach which ghould be taken in thig cage_ If the relationship between subchapter A (the basic estate tax) and subchapter B (the additional estate tax) is properly understood, it is evident that Congress djd not intend to limit the operation of the 1948 amendment to the basic estate tax ag plaintiffg contend.

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Bluebook (online)
208 F. Supp. 594, 10 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6288, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5051, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hurwitz-v-united-states-txsd-1962.