United States Sixth Circuit

A tax court's decision to assess a tax of over $1 million on the proceeds of an irrevocable trust under the generation-skipping transfer tax is affirmed over the estate's claim that a grandfather clause protected the assets from taxation where an applicable treasury regulation reasonably construed an ambiguous statutory provision, and led to a result contrary to the estate's argument.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/09/2007
• Published 11/09/2007

Judges

• Before:  COLE and COOK, Circuit Judges;  and FROST, District Judge.

Court

• United States Sixth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:  Mark A. Phillips, Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant.  Michelle B. Smalling, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Appellee.   ON BRIEF:  Mark A. Phillips, Jeffry L. Weiler, Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff, Cleveland, Ohio, Mark D. Tucker, Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant.  Michelle B. Smalling, Richard Farber, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Appellee.  Matthew Yackshaw, Day, Ketterer, Raley, Wright & Rybolt, Canton, Ohio, for Amicus Curiae.