-18- 2032(a), that applicable valuation date is the date of decedent’s death; i.e., September 2, 1996. See sec. 20.2031-1(b), Estate Tax Regs. The record reflects three sales of Glenwood Bank stock near the applicable valuation date. The first two sales involved the 10 shares and 7 shares, respectively, which were sold before the valuation date. The third sale involved the 116 shares sold by the estate after the valuation date. In each of these sales, the buyer was Bancorporation. Petitioners conceded at trial that they bear the burden of proof in this case. They acknowledge that an arm’s-length sale of property near the valuation date is the best indicium of its fair market value on the valuation date, but, they assert, only certain sales near a valuation date are “competent, substantial and persuasive evidence” of that fair market value. According to petitioners, sales may be probative of fair market value only if they occur within a reasonable time before the valuation date. Petitioners primarily support this position with a citation of Douglas Hotel Co. v. Commissioner, 190 F.2d 766, 772 (8th Cir. 1951), affg. 14 T.C. 1136 (1950). They also assert that a prior sale of property conclusively sets the fair market value of that property on a later valuation date even if the seller was not knowledgeable of all relevant facts as to that property and even if the property that was the subject of the sale was not ofPage: Previous 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011