Article: Substance Over Form in Transfer Tax Adjudication

Jay A. Soled and Richard Schmalbeck recently published an Article entitled, Substance Over Form in Transfer Tax Adjudication, Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, 2022. Below is the abstract for the Article:

The elevated exemption level under the federal transfer tax system (now in excess of $23 million for a married couple) has opened up new and abusive tax-avoidance opportunities. In many areas of the tax law, the substance over form doctrine historically has been effective in controlling such abuses; however, for a myriad of reasons, transfer tax jurisprudence has been marred by the reluctance of courts to embrace this doctrine. In this analysis, we urge reconsideration of that posture.