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(1940). Further, “the mere assignment of the right to receive
income is not enough to insulate the assignor from income tax
liability” where “the assignor actually earns the income or is
otherwise the source of the right to receive and enjoy the
income”. Commissioner v. Sunnen, 333 U.S. 591, 604 (1948). A
person cannot escape taxation by anticipatory assignments,
however skillfully devised, where the right to receive income has
vested. Harrison v. Schaffner, 312 U.S. 579, 582 (1941). A mere
transfer which is in form a gift of appreciated property may be
disregarded for tax purposes if its substance is an assignment of
a right to income. See Palmer v. Commissioner, 62 T.C. 684, 692
(1974), affd. on other grounds 523 F.2d 1308 (8th Cir. 1975).
However, the precise contours of the anticipatory assignment of
income doctrine in the context of charitable contributions of
appreciated property have been the subject of some contention.
In Palmer, the taxpayer exercised effective control over
both a corporation and a tax-exempt foundation that he had
organized. The taxpayer sought to transfer a certain asset, a
college, from the corporation to the foundation in a way that
would enable the taxpayer to maintain control over the direction
and operation of the college and that would yield the most
favorable tax consequences. To that end, the taxpayer caused the
foundation to acquire certain shares of stock in the corporation
which were held by a trust in which he was a trustee and income
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