Court Opinion

ID: 9419763
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 22:51:25.030198+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:20.526385
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Rutledge,
concurring.
I agree with the result and with the Court’s view that the evidence was amply sufficient to sustain the Tax Court’s findings and conclusions in this case and in Lusthaus v. Commissioner, post, p. 293. Candor forces me to add, however, that in my judgment the decisions’ effect is to rule that in situations of this character the formation of a limited partnership under state law between husband and wife, with the latter as the limited partner, following immediately upon the husband’s donation to the wife of a share in the assets of the business previously and after-wards conducted by him and conditioned upon her leaving the assets in the business, as a matter of federal tax law does not accomplish the formation of a partnership sufficient to relieve the husband of tax liability for the income derived after the transfer from use in the business of the share thus donated to the wife. In other words, I think that as a matter of law the taxpayers in these cases were *293liable for the taxes assessed against them, including the deficiency assessments; and, therefore, in my opinion the Tax Court is not free in these or substantially similar circumstances to draw either the contrary conclusion or opposing ones. While it is not strictly necessary to express this opinion in these cases in view of the Tax Court’s consistent conclusions of liability, it is inconceivable to me that the two cases, consistently with the federal tax law, could be decided the other way or with different outcomes on the facts presented. Being of this opinion, I consider the failure to state it could only tend to perpetuate a source of possible confusion for the future.