Paul G. Lustgarten and Jacqueline Lustgarten v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

Taxpayer appeals from the decision of the Tax Court, 71 T.C. 303, upholding a finding of deficiency in his income taxes for 1971. The issue is whether the taxpayer is entitled to report on an installment sale basis the sale of stock to his son. Because we agree with the Tax Court that the taxpayer had “constructive receipt” in 1971 of the entire proceeds from the sale of the stock, we affirm the denial of installment sale treatment.

In 1971, taxpayer Paul Lustgarten owned 67,600 shares of stock in Cooper Laboratories, Inc. He decided to divest a substantial portion of this stock because it…