Bertha O. Howell v. United States

SWYGERT, Circuit Judge.

The narrow issue presented by this case is whether a gift of shares of an open-end investment company (mutual fund) was properly valued for federal gift tax purposes by the district court on the basis of the public offering price, that is, what it would cost a willing buyer to purchase the shares on the date of gift or whether, as the taxpayer contends, the proper valuation is the bid price that an owner of the shares would have received upon redemption by the issuer. Essentially, the difference between the suggested alternative valuation figures is the loading or sales…