## Facts

- Orville F. Yetter died on April 29, 1955; his spouse, Imogene C. Yetter Rystogi, served as administratrix with the will annexed.
- The estate incurred and promptly paid \$2,197.50 in funeral and burial expenses.
- The estate filed a fiduciary income tax return for April 30, 1955, to December 31, 1955, claiming the funeral and burial expenses as an income-tax deduction.
- With the return, the estate filed a waiver under I.R.C. § 642(g) stating it would not claim those expenses as deductions in computing the taxable estate for estate-tax purposes.
- The Commissioner disallowed the income-tax deduction and determined an income tax deficiency of \$533.84.
- The parties submitted the case on stipulated facts.

## Issues

1. Whether funeral and burial expenses are deductible in computing an estate’s taxable income when the estate files a waiver under I.R.C. § 642(g) not to claim those expenses for estate-tax purposes.

## Decision

- The Tax Court held that funeral and burial expenses are not deductible in computing the estate’s taxable income, even if the estate files a proper § 642(g) waiver.
- The court sustained the Commissioner’s determination and the resulting deficiency.

## Legal Principles

- Tax deductions are allowed only when clearly authorized by statute; the taxpayer bears the burden to show statutory entitlement.
- I.R.C. § 2053 permits funeral expenses as deductions in computing the taxable estate, but that estate-tax allowance does not make them deductible in computing taxable income.
- Funeral and burial expenses are personal/testamentary expenses related to death and estate settlement, not expenses connected to producing, collecting, or conserving income.
- I.R.C. § 642(g) is a coordination rule aimed at preventing double deductions; it does not create new income-tax deductions and applies only to items otherwise allowable as income-tax deductions under separate provisions.
- A § 642(g) waiver cannot shift an item that is solely an estate-tax deduction into an income-tax deduction absent independent income-tax authorization.

## Conclusion

The Tax Court ruled that an estate may not deduct funeral and burial expenses on its fiduciary income tax return; a § 642(g) waiver only prevents double deductions and does not convert funeral expenses—deductible for estate-tax purposes under § 2053—into income-tax deductions.


Estate of Yetter v. Commissioner, 35 T.C. 737 (1961)