TAXATION - CONSTITUTIONALITY OF A CONCLUSIVE PRESUMPTION THAT A TRANSFER EXECUTED WITHIN A LIMITED PERIOD BEFORE DEATH IS MADE IN CONTEMPLATION OF DEATH

Authors

Abstract

Motion for a refund by the plaintiff on the ground that certain transfers made within two years of the death of the decedent should not have been subjected to the federal estate tax as they were not in fact made in contemplation of death. The defendant filed a statutory demurrer on the ground that section 302 of the Revenue Act as amended in 1926 (26 U. S. C. A. sec. 1049C) renders such property taxable irrespective of what impelled the transfer. The section reads, "Where within two years prior to his death and without consideration the decedent has made a transfer, . . . and the value is in excess of $5,000, then to the extent of such excess such transfer shall be deemed and held to have been made in contemplation of death within the meaning of the title." Held, the statute was a violation of the Fifth Amendment to the federal Constitution since it denies equal protection of the laws, and amounts to a taking of private property without due process of law. Donnan v. Heiner (W. D. Pa. 1931) 48 F.(2d) 1058; Hall v. White (D. C. Mass. 1931) 48 F.(2d) 1060.

Recommended Citation

TAXATION - CONSTITUTIONALITY OF A CONCLUSIVE PRESUMPTION THAT A TRANSFER EXECUTED WITHIN A LIMITED PERIOD BEFORE DEATH IS MADE IN CONTEMPLATION OF DEATH, 30 Mich. L. Rev. 477 (1932).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol30/iss3/34