- 18 - In Bagley v. Commissioner, supra at 410, we concluded that the express allocation of $1.5 million as damages for personal injuries provided for in the settlement agreement was not controlling, and we determined that $500,000 of that sum was to be allocated as punitive damages. The payor's primary concern was to pay as little as possible to dispose of all claims of the taxpayer. Moreover, we noted that it was clearly in the interest of both parties not to allocate an amount to punitive damages, despite the fact that the record showed that both parties had considered the strong possibility of petitioner's recovering punitive damages. Both parties worked on the terms of the settlement document, and the taxpayer had consulted a tax attorney concerning the allocation of the settlement proceeds. In contrast with Robinson v. Commissioner, supra, and Bagley v. Commissioner, supra, in McKay v. Commissioner, supra, we found that the settlement was made by hostile parties who continued to be adverse with respect to the allocations to be made therein. We noted that the "allocation of the settlement proceeds between the wrongful discharge tort claim and the breach of contract claim was based on * * * counsels' estimates of probability of * * * success on the merits, recognition of the jury verdict, and mutual assessment of the total and relative values of the claims." McKay v. Commissioner, supra at 472. In McKay v. Commissioner, supra, while the taxpayer wanted the settlement award to be as high an amount as possible toPage: Previous 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011