Estate of Alice Friedlander Kaufman - Page 20




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          performed more than 700 appraisals since he entered the valuation           
          field in 1986, and he is an accredited member of the American               
          Society of Appraisers and the Institute of Business Appraisers.             
          We recognized Mr. Fowler as an expert on business valuation, but            
          we expressed our concern that he might be biased because he was a           
          full-time employee of the Commissioner.  Mr. Fowler's initial               
          report ascertained the value of Seminole stock as of December 8,            
          1993, the date for which the Merrill Lynch report had set forth a           
          value.  We did not admit this report into evidence.  We held it             
          was irrelevant because the December 8, 1993, valuation date set             
          forth therein was too far removed from the applicable April 14,             
          1994, valuation date.  We did admit into evidence his                       
          supplemental report, limiting its admissibility to a rebuttal of            
          Mr. Tack's supplemental report.  Mr. Fowler's supplemental report           
          analyzed the marketability discount in the context of the                   
          Mandelbaum factors, stating that an analysis of those factors               
          favored a marketability discount of 15 percent.                             
               We have wide discretion when it comes to accepting expert              
          testimony.  Sometimes, an expert will help us decide a case.                
          See, e.g., Booth v. Commissioner, 108 T.C. 524, 573 (1997); Trans           
          City Life Ins. Co. v. Commissioner, 106 T.C. 274, 302 (1996); see           
          also M.I.C. Ltd. v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1997-96; Proios v.             
          Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1994-442.  Other times, he or she will             
          not.  See, e.g., Estate of Scanlan v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.              
          1996-331; Mandelbaum v. Commissioner, supra.  We weigh an                   
          expert's testimony in light of his or her qualifications and with           


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