Estate of Moss v. Commissioner
United States Tax Court
74 T.C. 1239 (1980)
- Written by Daniel Clark, JD
Facts
John Moss was the president and primary shareholder of Moss Funeral Home, Inc. Moss sold his shares in the funeral home back to the corporation in exchange for notes payable by the funeral home. Under the terms of the notes, the funeral home was to pay regular payments until the principal was fully paid off or until Moss died, at which point the notes would be deemed cancelled and treated as if fully paid off. The funeral home proceeded to make the required payments up until Moss’s death. When Moss died, there remained an unpaid balance. The funeral home, pursuant to the terms of the notes, considered that balance to be forgiven and ceased making payments on the notes. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (defendant) included the remaining balance in Moss’s taxable estate. The executor of Moss’s estate (plaintiff) brought suit in the United States Tax Court to exclude the balance from the estate.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Irwin, J.)
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