- 9 - We agree with respondent. The true owner of income-producing property, such as the Liu accounts, is the one with beneficial ownership, rather than mere legal title. Serianni v. Commissioner, 80 T.C. 1090, 1104 (1983), affd. 765 F.2d 1051 (11th Cir.1985); Hook v. Commissioner, 58 T.C. 267, 273, 276 (1972). It is the ability to command the property, or enjoy its economic benefits, that marks a true owner. Hang v. Commissioner, 95 T.C. 74, 80 (1990). The Liu accounts are owned by the person or persons who derive "readily realizable economic value" from these accounts, and a person derives the requisite value when he or she has the freedom to dispose of the accounts' funds at will. Rutkin v. United States, 343 U.S. 130, 137 (1952). We are unable to find that petitioners were not the true owners of the Liu accounts.4 Although petitioners elicited testimony at trial in an attempt to establish that they did not own these accounts, we are unpersuaded by this testimony. For the same reasons stated above, we find that none of this testimony is credible. Because petitioners failed to disprove respondent's determination on this issue, we sustain it. We also sustain respondent's determination that petitioners are taxable on the interest on these accounts. Petitioners had argued that 4 To the contrary, the record indicates that Mr. Chu controlled the Liu accounts and that he had the ability to dispose of the funds contained therein at will.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
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