M. Louise Collins, Administratrix v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

216 F.2d 519, 46 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 1023, 1954 U.S. App. LEXIS 4345
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedNovember 9, 1954
Docket4848_1
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 216 F.2d 519 (M. Louise Collins, Administratrix v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
M. Louise Collins, Administratrix v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 216 F.2d 519, 46 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 1023, 1954 U.S. App. LEXIS 4345 (1st Cir. 1954).

Opinions

HARTIGAN, Circuit Judge.

This is a petition for review of a decision of the Tax Court of the United States [Gowdy’s Estate v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 21 T.C. 219] entered on January 22, 1954, determining a deficiency of $1,207.13 in estate tax on the estate of Mary Gowdy, of which petitioner is administratrix c. t. a. The following material facts were stipulated and were adopted by the Tax Court as its findings of fact.

Mary Gowdy died on August 27, 1947. At the date of death the decedent owned two United States Defense Bonds, Series G, each issued on December 1, 1941, in the principal amount of $1,000. The Commissioner determined “the fair market value” of these two bonds to be the total face value, $2,000. The decedent also owned jointly with the petitioner 33 United States Savings Bonds, Series G, in the principal amount of $64,800, which amount was determined by the Commissioner to be the value of the bonds at the date of death of the decedent. The petitioner in her estate tax return valued the bonds at their redemption value as of the date of the death of the decedent which valuation totalled $1,904 with respect to the two individually owned bonds and $61,736.40 with respect to the 33 jointly owned bonds.

The laws and regulations governing United States Savings Bonds, Series G, are found in Treasury Department Circular No. 530, Sixth Revision, dated February 13, 1945, as amended by the first amendment dated July 25, 1947. Series G bonds are non-transferable and may not be hypothecated or pledged as collateral for a loan or used as security for the performance of an obligation with exceptions not pertinent here. They bear interest at 2% % of their par value payable twice a year beginning six months from issue date. These bonds may be redeemed by the owner on one month’s notice in writing at the appropriate redemption value as shown in the table printed on the bond. The redemption value is always less than the par value until maturity. The bonds cannot be called for redemption by the government prior to maturity. A Series G bond may be redeemed at par before maturity “ * * * not less than six [521]*521months from issue date, (1) upon the death of an owner or co-owner, if a natural person * * * following actual receipt of written notice of intention to redeem at par * * * to be received * * * within six months after the date of death of owner or co-owner * * The notice period may be extended in the event of “litgation or delay in the appointment of a legal representative of the estate or in the receipt of notice of death.” The regulations further provide that upon the death of the owner the bond will belong to his estate and will be paid or reissued accordingly and that in any event “the person entitled to the bond may hold it without change of registration and will have the right to payment before or at maturity.” In the event of the death of a coowner of the bond, “the surviving co-owner will be recognized as the sole and absolute owner of the bond and payment or reissue, as though the bond were registered in his name alone, will be made only to such survivor.”

The Tax Court found that the decedent’s right to surrender the bonds for their redemption value was only one of the legal incidents of ownership and that to determine the value of the bonds by valuing such right alone would not be proper. It, therefore, found that the value of the bonds was the price decedent paid for them or par and sustained the Commissioner’s deficiency determination, and this petition for review followed.

The contention of the petitioner, which we shall first consider, is that the redemption value of these Series G bonds is analogous to the option price of stock, which option price has been held to be the maximum value of such stock for estate tax purposes; citing Wilson v. Bowers, 2 Cir., 1932, 57 F.2d 682; Lomb v. Sugden, 2 Cir., 1936, 82 F.2d 166, and Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Bensel, 3 Cir., 1938, 100 F.2d 639, and that, therefore, such redemption value should be the criterion of the value of the bonds for estate tax purposes. This contention is unsound because Series G bonds are not comparable with the stock and option rights involved in the Wilson, Lomb and Bensel cases, supra. In the stock option cases the holder of the option always has the right upon the death of the owner to purchase the stock at the option price. Wilson v. Bowers, supra, 57 F.2d at page 683; Lomb v. Sugden, supra, 82 F.2d at page 167; Edith M. Bensel, Executors, 1937, 36 B.T.A. 246, 248, affirmed sub nom. Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Bensel, supra. The decedent’s personal representative cannot elect to keep the property as in the instant case but has to sell if the option holder considers the property to be more valuable or as valuable as the option price. Certainly the value to the decedent of these Series G bonds would have been less if she knew that in the event of her death the government could choose, if it so wished, to redeem the bonds at their then redemption value. She knew, however, that the government could not elect to redeem at the redemption value but that in contrast to the stock option situation, her executor had the power to redeem the bonds for their full value. We do not disagree with the results of the aforementioned three cases but merely hold that the Series G bonds owned by the decedent are of a nature different from that of the stock and option rights involved in those cases.

The petitioner’s basic argument seems to be that the sole criterion which should be applied in determining the value of Series G bonds for estate tax purposes is their redemption value as of the date of death of the decedent. The respondent claims that the Tax Court was correct in holding that the value of the decedent’s interest was to be determined by valuing the other legal incidents of ownership along with the cash redemption value.

The findings of fact of the Tax Court shall not be set aside unless clearly erroneous. Amoroso v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 1 Cir., 1952, 193 F.2d 583, certiorari denied 1952, 343 U.S. 926, 72 S.Ct. 759, 96 L.Ed. 1337; Kuehner v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 1 [522]*522Cir., 1954, 214 F.2d 437. Even where all material facts are stipulated, as in this case, a finding of fact made by the Tax Court based on a reasonable inference from such stipulated facts will not be set aside upon review even though this court could possibly draw a different inference. Rollingwood Corp. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 9 Cir., 1951, 190 F.2d 263. In In re Nathan’s Estate, 9 Cir., 1948, 166 F.2d 422, 425, the court said: “The question of fair market value for tax purposes is ever one of fact and not of formula, and we have repeatedly held that a decision of the Tax Court on this question will be sustained if supported by substantial evidence. * * * ”

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Bluebook (online)
216 F.2d 519, 46 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 1023, 1954 U.S. App. LEXIS 4345, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/m-louise-collins-administratrix-v-commissioner-of-internal-revenue-ca1-1954.