- 15 -
have chosen but did not. Commissioner v. Natl. Alfalfa
Dehydrating & Milling Co., 417 U.S. 134, 149 (1974); see also In
re Steen, 509 F.2d 1398, 1402-1403 n.4 (9th Cir. 1975)
(maintaining that to allow a taxpayer to challenge his own forms
in favor of asserted “substance” would encourage
posttransactional tax planning and unwarranted litigation and
would raise a monumental administrative burden and substantial
problems of proof for the Government).
Young’s letter of April 21, 1997, and Coburn’s response to
Young’s letter on May 1, 1997, establish that petitioner had been
advised that she had several options that she could pursue with
respect to using Mr. Walker’s 25-percent interest in the Happy
Valley property to satisfy at least a part of her equalizing
money judgment. In particular, Coburn’s response to Young’s
letter asserted that, if petitioner chose to accept Mr. Walker’s
interest in the Happy Valley property within 1 year of the end of
their marriage and then decided to sell her undivided interest in
that property, she would be responsible for the entire amount of
tax resulting from the sale. The record in this case
demonstrates that this option was the one that petitioner chose
to follow.
Petitioner voluntarily entered into the Settlement Agreement
with Mr. Walker on September 22, 1997, and accepted his
25-percent interest in the Happy Valley property in consideration
Page: Previous 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011