Sec. 12-355. Compounding of tax. Contingent remainders. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 12-355. Compounding of tax. Contingent remainders. (a) If it is impossible to compute the present value of any of the property transferred, or of any interest therein, or if the tax cannot be determined because of a contingency as to who will take, the Commissioner of Revenue Services may enter into an agreement with the fiduciary to compound the tax upon such terms as may be deemed equitable, and the payment of any amount agreed upon shall be in full satisfaction for the tax imposed by this chapter, and such amount shall be payable out of the property transferred. The fiduciary is authorized to enter into such agreements on behalf of the estate or trust without the formal authorization of the Probate Court provided by section 45a-151.

      (b) If such an agreement cannot be reached within thirty days after the mailing by the Commissioner of Revenue Services to the fiduciary of an offer to compromise the tax, said commissioner shall, if the return filed under the provisions of section 12-359 is correctly made out, make a computation of the tax, based upon the whole net taxable estate, upon the assumption that the contingencies will so resolve themselves as to lead to the highest tax possible under the provisions of this chapter, and the executor, trustee and transferee shall be liable for such tax as in other cases. Copies of such computation shall be filed, and further proceedings taken in connection therewith, in accordance with the provisions of section 12-367. If, after such first computation and upon the determination of any of the contingencies, any part of the estate so passes as to lead to a lower tax, and if the fiduciary, within two years of such determination, notifies the Commissioner of Revenue Services thereof, the Commissioner of Revenue Services shall forthwith recompute the whole tax in the same manner as would have been done originally had the outcome of the contingencies in question been known. Copies of such recomputation shall be filed, and further proceedings taken in connection therewith, in accordance with the provisions of section 12-367. Upon the final determination of the amount of tax due on the recomputation the commissioner shall certify to the Comptroller that a refund is due in an amount equal to the difference between the tax paid at the highest rate and the tax actually due as shown by the recomputation. Before certifying to the Comptroller that a refund is due, the commissioner shall determine whether any additional estate tax is due under section 12-391 on account of such recomputation, and, if the commissioner so determines, the commissioner shall reduce, but not below zero, the amount of the refund otherwise due by the amount of such additional estate tax. Such refund, as so reduced, shall bear interest at the rate of five per cent compounded annually from the date of payment of the original tax to the date of the determination of the contingencies and shall be paid by the Treasurer, on the order of the Comptroller, to the trustee or other proper fiduciary, who shall distribute it ratably among the several beneficiaries equitably entitled to it. This subsection shall not be construed to prevent more than one refund in one estate if the circumstances warrant.

      (1949 Rev., S. 2035; June, 1955, S. 1146d; 1967, P.A. 22; 1971, P.A. 863, S. 3; P.A. 77-614, S. 139, 610; P.A. 80-307, S. 13, 31; P.A. 81-411, S. 21, 42; P.A. 97-165, S. 14, 16; 97-203, S. 15, 20.)

      History: 1967 act amended Subsec. (b) to change interest rate on refund from 2% to 4%; 1971 act deleted references to court of common pleas' approval of recomputation and certification of amount due to tax commissioner, effective January 1, 1972, and applicable to estates of persons dying on or after that date (all estates of persons dying before January 1, 1972, are subject to succession or inheritance tax laws applicable before that date and continued in force for that purpose); P.A. 77-614 substituted commissioner of revenue services for tax commissioner, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 80-307 temporarily increased interest on refund to 5% for taxes due on or after July 1, 1980, but not later than June 30, 1981; P.A. 81-411 continued the 5% rate of interest applicable to refunds under subsection (b) with respect to taxes becoming due on or after July 1, 1980; P.A. 97-165 amended Subsec. (b) to provide that in the case of a refund the commissioner must first verify that no additional estate tax is due prior to issuing a refund and if due the refund is offset, effective July 1, 1997, and applicable to the estate of any person whose death occurs on or after July 1, 1997; P.A. 97-203 amended Subsec. (a) to delete requirement of Attorney General approval, effective July 1, 1997.

      Former statute construed. 127 C. 636. Cited. 145 C. 497. Applied to a marital deduction trust, with a general power of appointment over the residue. 166 C. 581. Cited. 173 C. 232.

      Cited. 10 CA 95.