With Strings Attached: Federal Income Tax Consequences to Donors of Conditional Gifts

Because giving a gift involves tax consequences to the donors, they have made various successful attempts to shift the tax burden to the recipients. The author examines the question whether the amount of gift tax paid by a recipient in this case nonetheless should be considered part of the donor\u27s taxible [sic] income to the extent the tax exceeds the donor\u27s basis in the gift property. After reviewing the basic approaches in the federal courts for answering the question, he suggests an approach he believes best reflects the policies underlying the Internal Revenue Code and existing case law