Another Slant to Co-Ownership Discounts

Abstract

<p>A decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2014, Elkins v. Commissioner1 involving co-ownership of art collections has added another chapter to the saga of coownership discounts.2 Although other courts have allowed discounts for the costs of partition and sale, the courts generally have been reluctant to allow more than a token discount for a fractional interest itself in art works.3 The Elkins case4 allowed a 44.75 percent discount for undivided interests in works of art and a 10 percent discount for restrictions on transferability.5 An earlier Ninth Circuit case approved a token five percent discount.6</p>