An Election Year Race—For TaxpayersAn Election Year Race—For Taxpayers

U.S. taxpayers were faced with a number of decisions in 2012, including whom to elect as president and whether to make transfers to avail themselves of the potentially disappearing $5.12 million gift tax exemption. The year was consumed by the presidential election, which forced legislative action to the sidelines and left taxpayers scrambling to complete substantial gifts before the celebration began in Times Square. However, the Tax Court marched on during the year and produced at least one major decision with a significant effect on the estate-planning and valuation worlds. Although not directly addressing valuation techniques or methodologies, the Tax Court’s decision related to the validity of defined value clauses (DVCs), which ha...