- 28 - Knetsch v. United States, 364 U.S. 361, 365-366 (1960). Furthermore, even if a transaction has economic effects, it must be disregarded if it has no business purpose and its motive is tax avoidance. Gregory v. Helvering, supra at 469; Neely v. United States, 775 F.2d 1092, 1094 (9th Cir. 1985). In deciding whether a purported trust lacks economic substance, we consider the following factors: (1) Whether the taxpayer’s relationship, as grantor, to property purportedly transferred into trust differed materially before and after the trust’s formation; (2) whether the trust had a bona fide independent trustee; (3) whether an economic interest in the trust passed to trust beneficiaries other than the grantor; and (4) whether the taxpayer honored restrictions imposed by the trust or by the law of trusts. Markosian v. Commissioner, supra at 1243-1245; Castro v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2001-115; Hanson v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1981-675, affd. per curiam 696 F.2d 1232 (9th Cir. 1983). The first factor we consider in deciding whether a trust has economic substance is whether a taxpayer’s relationship, as grantor, to the property transferred into trust differed materially before and after the trust’s formation. Markosian v. Commissioner, supra at 1243. The record makes clear that petitioners’ relationship, as grantors, to their property before they created the OMK trustsPage: Previous 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Next
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