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do not) petitioner's offered testimony concerning the
grandchildren's alleged signing of the annuity agreement in late
1988, there would only, at best, have been an executory agreement
on decedent's part to transfer her land to them. An executory
agreement to sell is not a sale. See Armstrong v. Commissioner,
6 T.C. 1166, 1173-1174 (1946), affd. per curiam 162 F.2d 199 (3d
Cir. 1947). Moreover, petitioner's own petition asserted that
the transaction occurred on or about August 29, 1989, not in late
1988, as petitioner now contends. We hold that decedent's
transfer of the land in connection with the private annuity
transaction occurred on August 29, 1989, after the effective date
of section 7520.5 See sec. 25.2511-2, Gift Tax Regs. (providing
that for gift tax purposes a gift is made on the date upon which
5 We would note that if the transaction had taken place in
late 1988, as petitioner contends, the annuity then should have
been valued under the applicable estate and gift tax regulations
in effect for transfers made after Nov. 30, 1983, but before May
1, 1989. See T.D. 7955, 1984-1 C.B. 40; sec. 20.2031-7A(d)(6)
(Table A), Estate Tax Regs.; sec. 25.2512-5A(d)(1)(i) and (ii),
(2)(i), (6), Gift Tax Regs. If decedent's accountant had valued
decedent's annuity pursuant to the pertinent actuarial table (see
Table A in sec. 20.2031-7A(d)(6), Estate Tax Regs.) provided
under the regulations in effect in late 1988, then he presumably
would have computed a value for the annuity of at most
$1,305,866.20 ($311,165 multiplied by 4.1967). That
$1,305,866.20 value is even lower than the $1,360,724 value
respondent has computed for the annuity, pursuant to sec. 7520,
in the Mar. 13, 1996, notice of deficiency. Further, decedent's
tax advisers should have been aware of the estate and gift tax
regulations in effect in 1988, as those regulations (including
Table A) were originally issued in 1984, well before the time
when decedent and they were planning the annuity transaction.
See T.D. 7955, 1984-1 C.B. at 41, 86-87.
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