Muller v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue, Docket No. 13002.
| Decision Date | 21 April 1948 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 13002. |
| Citation | 10 T.C. 678 |
| Parties | CHRISTINE D. MULLER, PETITIONER, v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, RESPONDENT. |
| Court | U.S. Tax Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
TRANSFEREE LIABILITY— STATE EXEMPTIONS FROM EXECUTION.— A widow receiving property from her husband's estate exempt from execution in her hands under state law is a transferee and liable as such for Federal taxes due from the decedent. David C. Broderick, Esq., for the petitioner.
Sheldon V. Ekman, Esq., for the respondent.
The Commissioner determined that the petitioner is liable, as transferee, for income taxes of her deceased husband, Nicholas W. Muller, for the period from January 1, to June 18, 1943, in the amount of $1,048.81. The petitioner does not contest the amount of the taxes, but contends that she is not liable as a transferee for those taxes.
The stipulation of facts is adopted as the findings of fact and, in addition, it is found from the testimony that the fair market value of a 1941 Chrysler sedan, at the time it was received by this petitioner, was not in excess of $450, and the funds on deposit in a joint bank account in the name of the petitioner and her husband came from money which the petitioner had saved from amounts given her by her husband for household expenses.
Nicholas W. Muller, the husband of the petitioner, died on June 18, 1943. His income tax return for the period from January 1, 1943, to the date of his death was filed with the collector of internal revenue for the second district of New York.
No property passed under his will and no fiduciary has been appointed in connection with his estate.
The decedent, an employee of the State of New York, at the time of his death was a member of a retirement or pension system into which he had paid a portion of his salary. He had named the petitioner as his beneficiary under that plan in the event of his death prior to retirement. The state of New York paid the petitioner, as beneficiary, the accumulations of the decedent's contributions, amounting to approximately $16,000, and approximately $6,000 representing six months salary, as provided in the pension plan.
The decedent maintained several policies of insurance which by their terms became payable to the petitioner as the designated beneficiary. She received $9,800 as the proceeds of those policies.
The petitioner gave no consideration for the assets of the decedent which she received. The distribution of those assets to her rendered the estate of the decedent insolvent and without funds or other property with which to pay the tax liabilities involved herein. Those taxes, with...
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Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Stern
...consistent standards to determine transferee lia- bility despite the opposition of several Courts of Appeals. See, e.g., Muller v. Commissioner, 10 T.C. 678; Leary v. Commissioner, 18 T.C. 139; Bales v. Commissioner, 22 T.C. 355; Stoumen v. Commissioner, 27 T.C. I would hold, as a matter of......
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United States v. Truax, 15356.
...delinquent income taxes to the extent of the entire proceeds. Aura Grim Bales, 22 T.C. 355; Sadie D. Leary, 18 T.C. 139; Christine D. Muller, 10 T.C. 678; Marjorie U. Sullivan, T.C.M., CCH Dec. 17,436(M); Eleanor Neely, T.C.M., CCH Dec. 17,135(M); United States v. Goddard, D.C.W.D.N.Y., 111......
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United States v. Bess, Civ. A. 1248-52.
...F. Supp. 607; Aura Grimes Bales, 1954, 22 T.C. 355; Ruth Halle Rowen, 1952, 18 T.C. 874, reversed 2 Cir., 1954, 215 F.2d 641; Christine D. Muller, 1948, 10 T.C. 678. See also Pyle, Liability of Insurance Proceeds for Unpaid Income Taxes of Decedents, 31 Taxes 183, 188-189 ...
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Rowen v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
...decedent. Its holding that the petitioners are liable as transferees is tersely stated to rest on its own earlier decision in Christine D. Muller, 10 T.C. 678, and the cases of Pearlman v. Commissioner, 3 Cir., 153 F. 2d 560, and Kieferdorf v. Commissioner, 9 Cir., 142 F.2d 723, certiorari ......