Porter v. Commissioner
United States Board of Tax Appeals
1. Where the settlor of a trust estate reserves to himself alone a power to alter, change or modify the trust, such reservation renders the transfer incomplete until his death.
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1. Where the settlor of a trust estate reserves to himself alone a power to alter, change or modify the trust, such reservation renders the transfer incomplete until his death. The property is therefor properly included in his gross estate subject to tax under section 302(d) of the Revenue Act of 1926. This is true even though in the trust agreements, the settlor expressly provided that if there was a revocation of the trust he could not designate himself or his estate as beneficiary. 2. Valid claims for balances due on subscriptions made by a father to a hospital and a university for…
1Dissent
Seawell,
dissenting: I feel constrained to dissent from so much of the opinion of the Board as holds that the property embraced in the trusts mentioned should be included in the gross estate of the decedent.
The law here being applied provides for an estate tax on transfers of the net property of a decedent at the time of his death. (Section 301 of the Revenue Act of 1926.) The tax is not a succession tax, payable by the beneficiary, but a transfer tax payable at the hands of the personal representative of the deceased. (Sections 305 (a) and 314 (b).) The deceased did not own the property here…
2Cases cited20 opinions
- Panama Railroad v. JohnsonSupreme Court of the United States · 1924
- Reinecke v. Northern Trust Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1929
- Nichols v. CoolidgeSupreme Court of the United States · 1927
- Chase National Bank v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1929
- Tyler v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1930
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