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THEA~ORNEY GENERAL OFTEXAS A~JSTXN 11. TEXAR ,-..__._ -.----- CiROVEBSELLERS HonorableGeorge H,.Sheppard $0-24-48 to Sheppard; re estate Comptrollerof Public Accounts of Nellie Pollard Daily Austin, Texas ~ ._ Dear Sir: Opinion No. ~0-5997 lb: Application of A%idle _,~ 7125, V:A.C.S.,-to an in- heritance tax on the estate of Aliiemffi Blav6hs, de- ceagmd, who &ad +ecelved, within five years of her death, an estate from a prior decedent on which a tax was paid in Indiana. From your request for an opinion dated May 1, 1944, we summarizethe following facta, upon rhiah this opinion is based8 Al~ice0. Slavena received certain trust funds in the sum of Q28,589.~0 from the Estate of Mrs. Carrie Brown, who ‘died on.November 17, 1939, a reaident...of Winchetiter, Indiana. This eatate raa administered under she laws tif Indiana, and an inheritance tax was paid under the Indiana laws. Mice 0. Slavens died on November 25, 1943. Your question is: e1.ethe Estate of Mrs. Slavena entitled to a deduction in.the.amount-of the trust funds that she received from Mrs. Brown's Estate, uho was a'non-resident, as property previously faxed-,by-theState of Indiana within a period of five years?" Prior to lq29-there was no provision in our statutes for the exemption of estates on which inheritance taxes had been paid within any specified period of time. By Acts 1929, Honorable George H. Sheppard, page 2 O-5997 41st Leg., Ch. 26, p. 60, entitled "An Act to Amend Article 7125 of the Revised Civil Statutes of l925.so as to exempt estates upon which Inheritance Taxes have been levied with- in ffve years from the date of the second passage of said estates, and declaring emergency, ' Article 7125 was amended as folPowst " The only deductions permissible under,ihis'law are the debts due by the estate . . .and an amount equal to the value of any property forming a part of the gross estate situated In the United States of any person who died within five (5) years prior to the death of the decedent; this deduction, however, shall only be allowed where an inheritance taxi 9mnosed under this or anv prior act of the Leg- fslature was paid by the estate of the prior dececent and only in the amount of the value placed by the Comptroller on such property in determining the value of the gross estate of such prior decedent. . .*' (Emphasis ours) The emergency clause-of that act recites that: "The fact that the present method of ascertaining the amount of deductions allowed is unfair and inequitable and places undue tax burdens upon estates passing in rapid succession creates an emergency . . *' ^ The clause "Where an inheritance tax imposed under this or any prior act of.the Legislature was paid" is a very Common one in sfmilar statutes of other states, from which it was undoubtedly adopted. See
57 A. L. R. 1099;
114 A.L.R. 1306; Re NilsonPs Estate, 201~Iowa 1033,
204 S.W. 244; 61, C. J. 1621, Sec. 2402. Under the decfsions, th,emeaning of such clause is quite clear. the 46th Legislature again amended Article 7125, (Aots 1,';9t9i Ch. 13, Sec. 2, p. 646). This Act fs,entitled in act e . .amending Article' 7125 Revised civil Statutes of-the State of Texas, 1925, as amended qcts, 1929, Forty-fSrst Leg., ch. 26, p. 60, Sec. 1, so as to more clearly~.define deductionspermissible for fnheritance tax purposes. e 0"s and Article 7125 now reads as follows: Honorable George H. Sheppard, Page 3 O-5997 n .The only deductions permissible under Eh s Law are the debts due by the estate e . . an ^an amount . equal to the value of any property r’ormlng a part..oS the gross estate situated in the United States received from any person ~who died within five (5) years prior to the death of the deoedent, this rsaud- tlon, however, to be only in the amount of thg value of, the property upon which an inheritance tax was actually paid and shall not include any ‘legal exemptions claimed by or allowed the helrs or 18 atees of the estate of the prior decednet. 0 e 0f (Emphasis added) The conclusion is inee@hp&le, from this amendment deliberately omitting the clause, "Where an inheritance tax imposed under this or any prior actof the Legislature was paid”, that the Legislature intended thereby to exempt ah es- tate-of a prior decedent received wYthin five years, and up- on which an inheritance tax was paid, even where the tax was paid to some other state. Therefore, any part of the fund In question upon which a tax was actually paid in Indiana is exempt from taxa- tion under the Texas state. Trusting that this sufficiently answers your in- quiryp we are, Yours very truly ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS %' Arthur L. Moller Ass,istant ALld/ffsPAM APPROVED NAY 8, 1944 GEO. P.mBLACKBURN (ACTING) ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS APPROVED GPiNI0N~ CO~MMITTEE ~ '- BY GS,,CHAIRMAN .,
Document Info
Docket Number: O-5997
Judges: Grover Sellers
Filed Date: 7/2/1944
Precedential Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 2/18/2017