Burden of Proof Issues in Gift Tax Matter

A recent case illustrates 3 important burden of proof issues.

The general facts of the case involved a merger of a company owned by parents with a company owned by children. The gift tax issue involved the relative value of the two companies to determine how much, if anything, was transferred to the children by the merger due to their resulting stock ownership in the merged company.

A rebuttable presumption of correctness cloaks an IRS notice of deficiency. Thus, the taxpayer typically bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the Commissioner’s assessment is erroneous. However, there are some circumstances where the burden of proof shifts to the IRS. . .

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