Supreme Court Denies Estate Tax Refund in Stock Value Fight (1)

The US Supreme Court denied a major tax benefit to estates on Thursday, ruling that $3 million in life-insurance proceeds earmarked by a company to redeem a decedent’s stock must be included when valuing the company’s stock for estate tax purposes.

The high court ruled against an estate whose deceased owner had his stock redeemed by his family business using proceeds from an insurance policy the business took on his life. The estate’s executor had challenged an IRS determination that the estate owed about $890,000 in additional tax after undervaluing the stock because the family business had become significantly more ...