Michael A. Tricarichi, Transferee v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

Whether a tax court in applying fraudulent transfer principles for imposing transferee liability with respect to a taxpayer must utilize the fraudulent transfer law in the state where the taxpayer lived, or whether the tax court is free to apply fraudulent transfer law from any state in which the tax court may arbitrarily choose. Likewise, whether, after properly planning his affairs to minimize his overall federal income tax liability, and in light of the tax court and Ninth Circuit applying the wrong body of law, a taxpayer may be liable pursuant to I.R.C. § 6901 of the Internal Revenue Code for, inter alia, the conduct of third parties who purchased the taxpayer’s business when the taxpayer had no involvement with, or actual knowledge of, the wrongful conduct of the third party and where that third party’s conduct occurred months after the transaction closed.