Hassett v. Welch Helvering v. Marshall
| Decision Date | 28 February 1938 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 375,484,s. 375 |
| Citation | 82 L.Ed. 858,58 S.Ct. 559,303 U.S. 303 |
| Parties | HASSETT v. WELCH et al. HELVERING, Commissioner of Internal Revenue, v. MARSHALL |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Messrs. Homer S. Cummings, Atty. Gen., and James W. Morris, Asst. Atty. Gen., for petitioners.
Messrs. Claude R. Branch and John L. Hall, both of Boston, Mass., for respondents Welch and others.
Mr. Wm. D. Mitchell, of New York City, for respondent Marshall.
The petitioners ask us to hold that section 302(c) of the Revenue Act of 19261 as amended by the Joint Resolution of Congress of March 3, 1931,2 and section 803(a) of the Revenue Act of 1932,3 includes in the gross estate of decedent, for estate tax, property which, before the adoption of the amendments, was irrevocably transferred with reservation of a life estate to the transferor; and that, so applied, the statute does not offend the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. The numerous cases pending in the courts and the Board of Tax Appeals involving these questions, and the claim that decisions of this court have not settled the matter, moved us to grant certiorari.
The respondents in No. 375 are executors under the will of a decedent who died November 20, 1932. On February 13, 1924, voluntarily and without valuable consideration, he transferred to a trustee property which he expected to receive under the will of his brother, reserving to himself the income for life, directing division of the income after his death between nephews and nieces and distribution of the corpus, upon the death of the survivor of them, amongst their then living issue. After his brother's death, and on October 22, 1926, he duly ratified and confirmed the original trust instrument. The Commissioner ruled that the value of the trust assets should be included in the decedent's gross estate, in the view that the transfer was testamentary, because made in contemplation of death, or intended to take effect in possession or enjoyment at or after death, within the meaning of section 302(c) of the Revenue Act of 1926. The respondents paid the resulting tax and sued for refund in the District Court of Massachusetts. Judgment went for the Collector.4 The Circuit Court of Appeals held that the District Court erred in concluding that the transfer was made in contemplation of death or was intended to take effect in possession or enjoyment after death. The petitioner nevertheless insisted upon the legality of the exaction as the decedent died after the 1931 and 1932 amendments of section 302(c), which declared the property transferred a part of the gross estate for computation of estate tax, in virtue of the reservation to the transferor of the income for his life. The court overruled the contention, holding that, if so retroactively enforced, the legislation violated the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, and reversed the judgment.5 In his application for certiorari the petitioner did not assign error to the Circuit Court's ruling as to the nontestamentary character of the transfer, but confined his attack to the decision that the amendments of section 302(c) could not constitutionally be invoked to sustain the tax.
In No. 484 it appears that the decedent died intestate June 4, 1933. The respondent, her son, is her administrator. November 15, 1920, she transferred to him certain cash and securities. On the same day they entered into an agreement reciting an understanding that, in case of his death during her life, the securities and cash should be reconveyed to her and, in the meantime, he should pay her such portions of the income therefrom as she might from time to time request in writing; that while he held the securities he might invest and reinvest; that he should bequeath her all the assets constituting the fund, in case she survived him; that she would reimburse him for any increased income taxes payable by him in virtue of his ownership of the fund and that, if she should survive him and take the property under his will, she would reimburse his estate for state and federal inheritance taxes due by reason of the bequest. The agreement contained other provisions for the safeguarding and separate cutody of the fund during the mother's life. The respondent paid the decedent portions of the income upon her request. He executed a will bequeath- ing the property to her on the terms mentioned in the agreement, but, upon her death, he revoked the bequest. The Commissioner included the value of the fund in the decedent's gross estate, holding that she had made a transfer within the terms of section 302(c) of the Revenue Act of 1926, as amended in 1931 and 1932. The Board of Tax Appeals reversed the Commissioner's determination and the Court of Appeals affirmed its action6 upon the authority of the decision of the Circuit Court of Appeals of the First Circuit in No. 375 and that of the Seventh Circuit in No. 349, decided this day, Helvering v. Bullard, 303 U.S. 297, 58 S.Ct. 565, 82 L.Ed. 852.
Counsel for the government argue that the Joint Resolution of 1931 and section 803(a) of the Revenue Act of 1932 were intended to impose an estate tax measured by transfers of the sort therein described which had been irrevocably made prior to the passage of the legislation and that, so construed, they are not arbitrarily or unreasonably retroactive and do not offend the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment. Counsel for respondents answer that the enactments were intended to operate only upon transfers subsequently consummated and, if construed to reach the past transfers here involved, violate the amendment. We hold that the statutes are prospective in their operation and do not impose a tax in respect of past irrevocable transfers with reservation of a life interest.
Ascertainment of the intended application of the Joint Resolution of March 3, 1931, and section 803(a) of the Revenue Act of 1932, involves a reading of them in the light of cases construing similar phraseology of earlier acts, their legislative history and administrative interpretation. There is agreement and section 803(a) re-enacted the substance of the Joint Resolution with but slight verbal differences. It will, therefore, be necessary to quote only the Resolution. By it section 302(c) of the Revenue Act of 1926, supra, was amended to provide:
'The value of the gross estate of the decedent shall be determined by including the value at the time of his death of all property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, wherever situated * * *
'(c) To the extent of any interest therein of which the decedent has at any time made a transfer, by trust or otherwise, in contemplation of or intended to take effect in possession or enjoyment at or after his death, including a transfer under which the transferor has retained for his life or any period not ending before his death (1) the possession or enjoyment of, or the income from, the property or (2) the right to designate the persons who shall possess or enjoy the property or the income therefrom; except in case of a bona fide sale for an adequate and full consideration in money or money's worth.' 46 Stat. 1516.
The matter in ordinary type is section 302(c) as it was prior to amendment; the additions are in italics.
The Government relies on the words 'at any time' as demonstrating that the legislation was intended to apply to transfers made before its adoption and is so unequivocal as to leave no room for construction. This phrase, appearing in an earlier revenue act, had, however, been held not to render the statute effective upon transfers antedating the passage of the act7 and Congress apparently realized that the expression did not carry the statute back so as to embrace transactions consummated before its passage; for, in subsection (h) of section 302 of the Revenue Act of 1926,8 in referring to transactions and interests giving rise to a tax by virtue of preceding subsections, it directed that they should be taxable 'whether made, created, arising, existing, exercised, or relinquished before or after the enactment of this Act (February 26, 1926).'9 We conclude that the meaning of the section is not so free from doubt as to preclude inquiry concerning the legislative purpose.
The history of the Resolution is of material aid in its construction. Section 302(c) of the Act of 1926, like earlier acts, measured the tax by the inclusion in the gross estate of property of which the decedent had made a voluntary transfer in contemplation of, or intended to take effect in possession or enjoyment at or after his death. Notwithstanding the Treasury had ruled that a transfer of assets with a reservation of income for the donor's life came within the definition, this court held otherwise.10 Dissatisfied with the decision, the Government sought a reversal of it but, in three judgments, announced on March 2, 1931, the ruling was reaffirmed.11 In the opinions in these cases, which led to the preparation and adoption of the Resolution, the court said there was 'no question of the constitutional authority of the Congress to impose prospectively a tax with respect to transfers or trusts of the sort here involved.' There then remained one day of the current session of Congress. The Treasury drafted an amendment of section 302(c) to bring trusts of this type within its sweep, in the form of the Joint Resolution of March 3, 1931, which was sent to Congress on the day of our decisions and was passed under a suspension of the rules, on the next day, the last of the session. 12
Because its passage was considered exigent, the Resolution was adopted without having been printed and in reliance on statements made from the floor. The Congressional Record discloses the understanding of the Congress with respect to its scope. Mr. Garner, of the House Ways and Means Committee, stated: ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Helvering v. Hallock Same v. Squire Rothensies v. Huston Bryant v. Helvering 8212 112, 183 399
...to the grantor or the possibility of reverter remaining in him, involved in both Heiner and McCormick. See Hassett v. Welch, 303 U.S. 303, 308, 309, 58 S.Ct. 559, 562, 82 L.Ed. 858. The omission is significant. It may be argued that in the haste of preparing and passing the amendment the po......
-
Spiegel Estate v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
...beneficiaries until the settlor's death? '7. In the light of this Court's opinion in Helvering v. Hallock does the Hassett v. Welch (303 U.S. 303, 58 S.Ct. 559, 82 L.Ed. 858) interpretation of the 1931 congressional resolution have controlling relevance in determining whether the estate tax......
-
Shapiro v. United States
...States v. American Trucking Ass'n, Inc., 1940, 310 U.S. 534, 549, 60 S.Ct. 1059, 1067, 84 L.Ed. 1345; Hassett v. Welch, 1938, 303 U.S. 303, 310, 311, 58 S.Ct. 559, 563, 82 L.Ed. 858. 14 Hearings, supra note 12, at 181; see also id. at 154, 179 80 (oral testimony), 190—200; 88 Cong.Rec. 61, ......
-
Monarch Life Ins. Co. v. Loyal Protective Life Ins. Co.
...adopting statute was enacted and is unaffected by any subsequent amendment or repeal of the statute adopted. Hassett v. Welch, 303 U.S. 303, 58 S.Ct. 559, 82 L.Ed. 858 (1938); United States ex rel. Kessler v. Mercur Corp., 83 F.2d 178 (2 Cir.), cert. denied 299 U.S. 576, 57 S.Ct. 40, 81 L.E......
-
The Vacancies Act and an Acting Attorney General
...the referenced statute as it existed when the referring statute was enacted, without any subsequent amendments."); Hassett v. Welch, 303 U.S. 303, 314 (1938) ("A well-settled canon tends to support the position of respondents: Where one statute adopts the particular provisions of another by......