The sun., 1919-11-01
TRAVIS TO SEEK TAX
ON ASTOR MILLIONS
State Comptroller Will APP
point Appraiser Within
Week or Two.
$50, 100000 rs INVOLVED
Official Must Bear Expenses of
Investigation With Big
, Share as Incentive.
Special Despofch TO TIE suS.

Eugene M. Travis, who has charge Of
the collection of State inheritance taxes,
said to-day that within a week or two
he will designate an appraiser who will
try to get the necessary facts to permit
the State to levy a tax on the real es-
tate owned in New York city by the late
Viscount William Waldorf Astor.
The State law provides an Inheritance
tax OF per cent. on real property above
100000. and figuring that the Astor
holdings In New York were valued at
$6O.000.0o0. this would give the State
about S3,000.000. The State also levies
an additional tax of per cent on In
vestments which have not paid the State
investment tax.
State officials here admit they may
have hard time collecting state tax
on the Astor real estate holdings, es-
pecially IL they find, as has been stated
under authority OF Charles A. Peabody.
| attorney for the Astor interests, that
some time ago viscount Astor trans
ferred his entire property holdings to a
trust company as trustee for his two
sons.
Comptroller Travis said to-day that in
order for the State to collect the transfer
or Inheritance tax it will be necessary
to prove in court that Viscount Astor
made this transfer in anticipation of
dedtn 10 avoid this taxation.
How ONCE VIII Proceed.
In explaining how his Office would pro-
coed. Mr.. Travis said that under the law
he has to name an appraiser who is
willing to give his time and risk his
money in the work. In case the Comp
troller Is defeated, the appraiser is not
reimbursed by the State, but II he wins
he gets good percentage
In the Astor case 1t will be necessary
for the appraiser to visit England at
least once and perhaps several times.
He must interview relatives of Mr..
Astor, who of course will be inim.cal to
his case. He will have to take the sworn
dispositions of the medical men who at
tended the viscount before his death. He
will have to see the lawyers who handled
Mr.. Astor's financial affairs. In short
he must make a thorough investigation
of the entire matter, and all out of his
own pocket. Then he would have to
bring court action to recover the tax
from the estate. with the proba bility
that the case would be fought from start
to finish by Astors attorneys and would
not end until the United States Supreme
Court made a final decision.
Careful estimates here are that it
would cost an appraiser at least $4,000
to properly prepare the Astor case and
fight 1t through, and perhaps more.
There is some talk that William w.
Wingate Of Brooklyn, who has handled
some of the largest inheritance tax
cases for the Comptroller's office, will be
chosen by Mr.. Travis to do this work,
but Mr.. Wingate's friends do not believe
he will take the case.
State officials are wondering IL the
Federal Government cannot collect a big
tax on the Aston holdings as well as the
State of New York.
Federal Tax Heavy.
The Federal tax on the first s., oOo, 900
would be $67.500, with a fixed tax of
ID per cent. on the rest Of the S55,O0O,-
900. and an additional war tax of 10
per cent. on all the property in excess
of ten millions. This would bring the
total Federal tax to nearly $11,300.0o0.
The Astor estate has been in the pub
lie eye and mind for some time The
State Inheritance tax laws were re-
vamped in 1911 after a model estab-
lished by the National Tax Reform AS
ISOLATION, which other States were ex-
pected to follow in haste. Only one
State passed a similar law, however, and
in 1915 it became necessary to amend
the State law.
Accordingly bill was put through the
Legislature and signed by the Governor
amending the inheritance tax law so as
| to include as taxable transfer" the in
terest of a nonresident in any partner
ship business conducted wholly or partly
within this State, and also to include
the stock, bonds or notes of any corpo-
| ration. wherever incorporated, except a
moneyed corporation, a public service or
| manufacturing corporation, where the
property represented by such stock
bonds or notes consisted OF real prop
| erty located wholly or partly within this
State, in such proportion as the value
of the real property of such corporation
| located in the State of New York bears
to the value of the entire property OF
such corporation.
At that time II was rumored that
| since this State did not tax the stock of
New York corporations when owned by
a nonresident decedent several million
| aires had transferred all their large
| real estate holdings in New York city to
| corporations organized for that pur.
pose.