Collins v. United States

MEMORANDUM OPINION

WILLIAM M. TAYLOR, Jr., District Judge.

This is an action for the refund of estate taxes which the taxpayer claims were erroneously and illegally assessed and collected with respect to the Estate of Gillis A. Johnson, whose date of death was September 29, 1962. The question presenting itself in this case is whether the Administrator may deduct 100% of the funeral expenses of the deceased from the gross estate or only 50% of such expenses on the ground that one-half thereof is chargeable against the surviving spouse’s one-half interest in the community estate.

The statute…