Jack J. Grynberg - Page 10




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               Section 2501(a)(1) imposes a tax on individuals who directly              
          or indirectly transfer property by gift.  See sec. 2511(a).  In                
          order for the transfer to be complete, however, the donor must                 
          surrender dominion and control of the property.  See Estate of                 
          Sanford v. Commissioner, 308 U.S. 39 (1939); Burnet v.                         
          Guggenheim, 288 U.S. 280 (1933); sec. 25.2511–2(b), Gift Tax                   
          Regs.  In evaluating whether a donor has made a gift, we look to               
          the “objective facts of the transfer and the circumstances under               
          which it is made,” sec. 25.2511–1(g)(1), Gift Tax Regs., bearing               
          in mind that petitioner carries the burden of proof, see Rule                  
          142(a).                                                                        
               Petitioner advances four arguments as to why he is not                    
          subject to gift taxes.  He first claims that JGA, a joint                      
          venture, owned all the leases, such that neither spouse could                  
          have given them to anyone without the other’s consent.  He                     
          reasons further that, since the couple treated the mineral leases              
          as jointly owned following his purported assignments, no gifts                 
          were made.                                                                     
               Petitioner’s second argument rests on the premise that he                 
          and Mrs. Grynberg owned some of the mineral leases in community.               
          He claims that he did not convert community into separate                      
          property when he assigned his one–half interest in the leases to               

               4(...continued)                                                           
          deduction to make interspousal transfers fully deductible,                     
          effective for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 1981.                         





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