Rohmer v. Commissioner
United States Tax Court
1. Petitioner, a nonresident alien author, sold the serial rights to a novel to an American publisher for $ 33,750. After receiving part payment of $ 10,000, he assigned a one-half interest in this literary work to his wife, who had rendered various professional and other services in writing the novel.
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1. Petitioner, a nonresident alien author, sold the serial rights to a novel to an American publisher for $ 33,750. After receiving part payment of $ 10,000, he assigned a one-half interest in this literary work to his wife, who had rendered various professional and other services in writing the novel. Held, in the absence of proof that such services were rendered as consideration for the assignment, the entire value of the interest transferred constitutes a taxable gift. 2. Five per cent of the purchase price of the serial rights was paid for their use in Canada. Respondent determined that…
1Opinion of the Court
OPINION.
Bice, Judge:
The primary issue for our consideration is whether petitioner made a taxable gift by the assignment to his wife of a one-half interest in his literary work, “Drums of Fu Manchu.” Although we have already held in a previous opinion, Sax Rohmer, 14 T. C. 1467 (1950), that this assignment was an anticipatory assignment of income and therefore did not relieve petitioner of the income tax liability thereon, this does not preclude its being taxable under the gift tax statute. See Higgins v. Commissioner, 129 F. 2d 237 (C. A. 1, 1942), certiorari denied 317 U. S. 658 (1942);…
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