University of Miami Law School University of Miami School of Law Institutional Repository Articles Faculty and Deans 1997 Minority Discounts, Fair Market Value, and the Culture of Estate Taxation William S. Blatt University of Miami School of Law,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.miami.edu/fac_articles Part of the Business Organizations Law Commons, and the Tax Law Commons Recommended Citation William S. Blatt, Minority Discounts, Fair Market Value, and the Culture of Estate Taxation, 52 Tax L. Rev. 225 (1997). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty and Deans at University of Miami School of Law Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles by an authorized administrator of University of Miami School of Law Institutional Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Minority Discounts, Fair Market Value, and the Culture of Estate Taxation WILLIAM S. BLATr* I. INTRODUCTION In valuing blocks of corporate stock, courts often permit a minority discount-a reduction in value that reflects the difficulty of selling shares lacking corporate control.' The allowance of minority dis- counts encourages transactions designed to reduce transfer taxes.2 Taxpayers keep property in corporate solution, sometimes in tiered holding companies,3 and gradually transfer corporate control through multiple gifts of small blocks. Long contested by the government, 4 mi- * Professor of Law, University of Miami School of Law. I would like to thank Jack Bogdanski, Mary Coombs, Joseph Dodge, Mary Louise Fellows, John Gaubatz, Pat Gudridge, Mike Livingston, Grayson McCouch, George Mundstock, Jeff Pennell, Mark Ramseyer, Jim Repetti, Tom Robinson, Deborah Schenk, Sam Thompson, and Larry Zelenak for comments on earlier drafts of this Article.