Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Partially Grants Taxpayer’s Inheritance Tax Refund Protest

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court issued a decision affirming in part and vacating in part the Court of Common Pleas denial of an estate’s petition for an inheritance tax refund. The dispute centered on whether taxpayer, the estate of a deceased was entitled to deduct $29 million in payments made under trustee indemnification agreements from its inheritance tax liability. The court found that the estate failed to establish that the indemnification agreements were bona fide contracts, given the multiple conflicts of interest involving the decedent’s lawyer who also served as trustee and executor. However, the court remanded the case for consideration ...