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constitutes a testamentary device will not fix estate and gift
tax value. More precisely, however, we would say that the buy-
sell formula price does not set a ceiling on value, but that it
does set a floor. The mandatory buy-sell provisions in the cases
at hand effectively gave the estate a put, which set a minimum
value for Dave True’s interests owned at death. Even assuming
that the buy-sell agreement does not set a floor on value, we
doubt that book value actually and substantially exceeded estate
tax fair market value. Petitioners generally base their claims
of overreported value on appraisal information provided in the
final Lax report. However, we often note in our analysis of the
disputed companies, infra, that the final Lax report’s valuation
conclusions were unsubstantiated and result-oriented.
Therefore, we find that there is insufficient evidence to
support lower fair market values for any of the undisputed
companies than those originally reported on the 1993 and 1994
gift and estate tax returns.
IV. Valuations of True Companies in Dispute
A. True Oil
1. Marketable Minority Interest Value
a. Kimball Reports
The Kimball reports determined the so-called hypothetical
fair market value of the subject interests in the disputed
companies by using generally accepted valuation procedures and by
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