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that he only reviewed the B. Allen report in connection with
subsequent litigation, not at the time of the gifts.
We reject any notion that Mr. Harris was qualified to opine
on the reasonableness of using the tax book value formula in the
True family buy-sell agreements. Mr. Harris was closely
associated with the True family; his objectivity was
questionable. More importantly, he had no technical training or
practical experience in valuing closely held businesses. The
record shows no technical basis (in the form of comparables,
valuation studies, projections) for Mr. Harris’s assertion that
tax book value represented the price at which property would
change hands between unrelated parties. In Lauder II, we were
troubled by the fact that the decedent’s son settled on a book
value formula after having consulted with only a close family
financial adviser. Similarly, in Bommer Revocable Trust v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1997-380, we found it significant that
the decedent consulted only with his attorney, who spent 1 day
calculating the buy-sell agreement’s fixed transfer price. On
the basis of the record evidence, we find that Dave True’s
discussions with Mr. Harris were insufficient to assess
objectively and accurately the reasonableness of using a tax book
value formula price for the True companies’ buy-sell agreements.
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