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gross estate such amounts for claims against the estate as are
allowable by the laws of the jurisdiction under which the estate
is being administered.
The amounts that may be deducted as claims against a
decedent's estate are such only as represent personal
obligations of the decedent existing at the time of his
death, whether or not then matured, and interest
thereon which had accrued at the time of death. * * *
Only claims enforceable against the decedent's estate
may be deducted. * * * [Sec. 20.2053-4, Estate Tax
Regs.]
Unpaid income taxes, whether or not determined as of the
date of death, are deductible if they are on income properly
includable in an income tax return of the decedent for a period
before his or her death. See Schatzinger v. Commissioner, 12
B.T.A. 1353 (1928); sec. 20.2053-6(f), Estate Tax Regs.
Deduction for Federal Income Tax Liability
Respondent's position is that the estate tax deduction for
petitioner's 1991 Federal income tax liability should be limited
to the amount ultimately determined to be due. Petitioner's
position is that the reported income tax liability, except as
modified by respondent's determination in the 1994 notice of
deficiency, should be allowed in full, unreduced by the refund
approved in 1997. The decision in this case turns on whether we
should consider the postdeath adjustment in petitioner's income
tax liability due to the change in valuation of the NW stock.
The Supreme Court in Ithaca Trust Co. v. United States, 279
U.S. 151, 155 (1929), stated that "The estate so far as may be is
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