Ackerman v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
| Decision Date | 27 February 1929 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 17910. |
| Citation | 15 BTA 635 |
| Parties | LEOPOLD ACKERMAN, EXECUTOR, ESTATE OF MELVILLE E. ACKERMAN, PETITIONER v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, RESPONDENT. |
| Court | U.S. Board of Tax Appeals |
Herbert N. Arnstein, Esq., for the petitioner.
L. S. Pendleton, Esq., for the respondent.
The Commissioner determined a deficiency in estate tax of petitioner for 1924 in the amount of $410.18. The question is whether amounts received under certain accident policies and also under certain life insurance policies which provided for double indemnity in case of death from accident should be included in the gross estate of the decedent. The facts are stipulated.
FINDINGS OF FACT.
In 1924 Melville E. Ackerman died as the result of an accident, and at the time of his death he was a resident of St. Louis, Mo.
The following amounts were received by his widow as beneficiary under the several policies of insurance listed below, which amounts were included by the Commissioner as a part of the decedent's gross estate:
(1) Policy # 3,437,134 issued by the Equitable Life Assurance
Society ______________________________________________________ $4,250.00
(2) Policy # 2,802,221 issued by the Equitable Life Assurance
Society ______________________________________________________ 9,079.40
(3) Policy # 381,411 issued by the Columbian National Life Insurance
Company of Boston, Massachusetts ______________________________ 6,375.00
(4) Policy # 150,515 issued by The Equitable Life Insurance Company
of Iowa _______________________________________________________ 4,250.00
(5) Policy # 139,758 issued by the Columbian National Life Insurance
Company of Boston, Massachusetts ______________________________ 12,750.00
(6) Policy # XD 259,854 issued by The Travelers Insurance Company
of Hartford, Connecticut ______________________________________ 7,500.00
_________
Total _________________________________________________________ 44,204.40
The amounts included under (1), (2), and (4) above were the commuted values of the additional indemnity features of the policies on account of accidental death. The amounts included under (3), (5), and (6) were the amounts received under policies insuring against loss resulting from death by accidental means. The total amount received by the widow under said policies was in excess of $40,000 of the amount receivable by all other beneficiaries as insurance under policies taken out by the decedent upon his own life.
The petitioner contends that since the amounts received by the widow as beneficiary were receivable only by reason of the accident which resulted in the decedent's death, these amounts were not receivable "under policies taken out by decedent upon his own life" and therefore should not be included in the value of his gross estate for estate-tax purposes. Section 302 (g) of the Revenue Act of 1924 provides as follows:
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 —
* * * * * * *
(g) To the extent of the amount receivable by the executor as insurance under policies taken out by the decedent upon his own life; and to the extent of the excess over $40,000 of the amount receivable by all other beneficiaries as insurance under policies taken out by the decedent upon his own life.
As we understand the executor, the...
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