Honk. Robert S. Calvert OpinionNo. WW-350 Comptroller of Public Accounts Capitol Station Re: Whether value of property Austin, 'Texas previously subjected to death taxes In another State on death of prior decedentmay be deducted in computing inheritance Dear Mr. Calvert: taxes

'.Your letter requesting our opinion on the above captionedquestion reads, in part, as follows:

"Robert Glenn Rapp died testateon October 10, 1948, a resident of Oklahoma owning 22059 shares of Denver Producing and Reflnl Company stock valued at approximately $2,766,9 8.00. 2 Under the last will and testamentof Robert Glenn Rapp, the testatordevised this stock tohis survivingwife, Florence Bunn Rapp, who later remarried a man by the name of Anson L. Clark. Mrs. Florence Bunn Clark is now deceased,having died on August 1, 1952. "Between the date of.death of Robert Glenn Rapp and Mrs. Florence Bunn Clark, theDenver Producing and Refining Companywas liquidated and the assets of the companywere distributed to the stockholders of said company. Among the assets of the company distributed to Mrs. Clark were variousmineral Interestsand surface rights In Texas valued at $3,140,782.00
"An inheritance tax reportwas made to the Oklahoma Tax Commission for the estate of Robert Glenn Rapp and the 22059 shares of Denver Producing and Refining Company stockwere Includedas a part of the decedent's estate and a tax paid thereon. "AnsonL. Clark, the executor of the estate of Florence Bunn Clark, has filed with this department a Texas InheritanceTax Reportwhich*

Hon. Robert S. Calvert, Page 2 (m-350)

1nc;ludes

the assets distributed to Mrs. Clark In the liquidation of the Denver Producing and Refining Company, also claiming as a deduction forpro ert previously taxed a sum of approxlmately k2,7%3,176.00as being taxedwithin five years by the State of Oklahoma. "Please advisewhether or not this claim of .$2,743,176.00as property previously taxed within five years Is an allowable deduction." Article 7125,Vernon's Civil Statutes,provides, in part, as follows:

"The only deductionspermissibleunder this Law are the debts due by the estate,
. e Qall Federal, State, County and Municipal taxes due at the time of the death of the decedent, 9 D e and an amount equal to the value of any property forming a part of the gross estate situated in theUnited States received from any person who dieswithin five (5)years prior to the death of the decedent, this reduction,however,would be only In the amount of the value of theproperty upon which an inheritance taxwas actuallypaid and shallnot Include any legal exemptionsclaimed by and allowed the heirs or legatees of the estate of the prior decedent.

. . a' Prior to the 1939 amendment of Article 7125, the pertinentprovisions of the statute read as follows:

"The only deductionspermissible under this law are the debts due by the estate, o s Dall Federal, State and County and Municipal Taxes due at the time of the death of decedent and an amount equal to the value of any property forming a part of the gross estate situated in theUnited~ States of any person who died within fiveyears prior to the death of the decedent; this deduction, however, shall only be allowedwhere an inheritance tax Imposedunder this or any prior act of the Legislature was paid by the estate of the prior decedent and only In the amount of the value placed by the Comptroller on suchproperty in determining the value of the gross estate of such prior decedent.

. e .I'Hon. Robert S. Calvert,page 3 (WW-350

Attorney General's Opinion O-5997, In passingupon the Identical question here Involved, after quoting the 1929 and 1939 amendments of Article 7125 stated: !

"The conclusion Is Inescapable, from this amendment deliberately omitting the clause, 'Wherean Inheritance tax imposedunder this or any prior act of the Legislaturewas paid', that the Legislature intended thereby to exempt an estate of a prior decedent receivedwithin five years, and upon which an Inheritance taxwas paid, evenwhere the taxwas paid to some other state," Opinion O-5997was later affirmed by OpinionR-1425 and for the reasons stated in Opinion O-5997we re-affirm same. SUMMARY The deduction allowedunder Article 7125, V.C.S., for property comprisinga part of a decedent's estatewhich was received from a prior decedent less than fiveyears before decedent's death and upon which inheritance taxeswere actuallypaid may be claimed even though the tax was paid to some other State.
WVG:gs APPROVED: Yours very truly,
WILL WILSON Attorney General of Texas OPINION COMMITTEE Geo. P. Blackburn, Chairman
J. C. Davis Milton Richardson By $-Tz!icF Assistant

John Reeves Leonard Passmore REVIEWEDFOR THEATTORNEYGENERAL
BY James N. Ludlum