There are some taxpayer wins that I feel particularly good about. The refund claim of the Estate of Theodore Warshaw is one of them. Theodore Warshaw died in May 2006. His estate, which was left in trust for his widow, was valued at $1,848,293. Most of its value was in an IRA account that, according to its statements held securities worth $1,463,733. The estate paid estate tax of $88,677 to the state of New Jersey. In 2007 and 2008, there were distributions of $183,148 and $90,478. Then came the news at the end of 2008. Bernie Madoff had been running one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history. The IRA statements had been entirely fictitious. The distributions had been funded by the latest victims of the scheme. Mr. Warshaw’s executors figured that since there really had not been anything in the IRA, the estate taxes should be refunded. The New Jersey Division of Taxation did not agree. More in Forbes here.
