Estate of Vitt v. United States

HENLEY, Senior Circuit Judge.

This appeal and cross-appeal raise questions concerning the applicability of the doctrines of equitable estoppel and equitable recoupment in an estate tax refund suit. The district court1 concluded that although equitable estoppel was not a bar to the inclusion of certain property in the decedent’s estate, principles of recoupment required that the estate be permitted to recover estate taxes previously paid with respect to the same property. We affirm. I. Background.

Prior to his death in 1964, Edward W. Vitt, then husband of Verlena Vitt, the decedent whose estate…