Michael Ferguson and Valene Ferguson - Page 19

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               Based on the circumstances surrounding the gifts to the                
          Charities, we believe that Brett Floyd acted as petitioners'                
          agent in the transfer of the AHC stock and that petitioners                 
          relinquished control of the stock on September 9, 1988, when the            
          letters of authorization were executed, and we so find.  The                
          gifts to the Charities, therefore, were complete on September 9,            
          1988.                                                                       
               B.  Anticipatory Assignment of Income                                  
                    1.  Case Law                                                      
               It is a well-established principle of the tax law that the             
          person who earns or otherwise creates the right to receive income           
          is taxed.  E.g., Lucas v. Earl, 281 U.S. 111, 114-115 (1930).               
          When the right to income has matured at the time of a transfer of           
          property, the transferor will be taxed despite the technical                
          transfer of that property.  E.g., Estate of Applestein v.                   
          Commissioner, 80 T.C. at 345.  The mere anticipation or                     
          expectation of income at the time of transfer, however, is                  
          insufficient to create a fixed right to earned income.  Id.  The            
          reality and substance of a transfer of property govern the proper           
          incidence of taxation and not formalities and remote hypothetical           
          possibilities.  E.g., Hudspeth v. United States, 471 F.2d at 277.           
          It is the province of the trial court to determine the proper               
          characterization of a particular transaction upon consideration             
          of all the facts and circumstances.  See United States v.                   
          Cumberland Pub. Serv. Co., 338 U.S. 451, 456 (1950) (application            




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