Court Opinion

ID: 9642464
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:58:58.068528+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:48.151773
License: Public Domain

SANBORN, Circuit Judge
(concurring).
The Tax Court decided that the income of the trust created by Louis Stockstrom was his income for purposes of taxation, under the doctrine of Helvering v. Clifford, 309 U.S. 331, 60 S.Ct. 554, 84 L.Ed. 788, regardless of the fact that he could not recapture either trust income or trust principal. The basis for the decision is that Stockstrom, as donor-trustee, retained such broad powers of control and distribution over trust corpus and income that the income was taxable to him, although he could have none of it for his own use. I think the Tax Court might well have decided this case in favor of the taxpayer, but the standard for determining to whom the income was taxable is presently so vague and indefinite that I have no conviction as to whether the decision of the Tax Court is, as a matter of law, right or wrong. I therefore concur. I think it is unfortunate that courts which are required to determine such controversies as this must express opinions which are obviously little more than guesses. The number of cases in which the doctrine of Helvering v. Clifford, supra, is invoked indicates the difficulty which the Bench and Bar are having in applying that doctrine. See Shepard’s United States Citations on 309 U.S. 331.