Amdahl Corporation and Consolidated Subsidiaries - Page 16

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          acted as petitioner's agent, making petitioner the owner of the             
          residences.  Petitioner denies that the RSC was its agent and               
          asserts that the RSC was the agent of relocating employees to               
          transfer ownership of the residences from the employees to third-           
          party purchasers.                                                           
               The term "sale" is given its ordinary meaning and is                   
          generally defined as a transfer of property for money or a                  
          promise to pay money.  Commissioner v. Brown, 380 U.S. 563                  
          (1965).  For Federal tax purposes, State law controls whether a             
          taxpayer has an ownership interest in property, and the tax                 
          consequences of property ownership are then determined under                
          Federal law.  United States v. National Bank of Commerce, 472               
          U.S. 713, 722 (1985).  However, a sale occurs for Federal tax               
          purposes upon the transfer of the benefits and burdens of                   
          ownership rather than upon the satisfaction of technical                    
          requirements for the passage of title under State law.                      
          Yelencsics v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 1513, 1527 (1980); Clodfelter           
          v. Commissioner, 48 T.C. 694, 700 (1967), affd. 426 F.2d 1391               
          (9th Cir. 1970).                                                            
               Whether the benefits and burdens of ownership have been                
          transferred is a question of fact.  In Grodt & McKay Realty v.              
          Commissioner, supra, we identified the following factors to                 
          consider in determining whether a transaction constitutes a sale:           
                    (1) Whether legal title passes; (2) how the                       
                    parties treat the transaction; (3) whether                        
                    an equity was acquired in the property;                           




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