Legal to sell Manhattan apartment for US$10?

THE EDITOR: There seems to be something amiss with the selling a Manhattan apartment for US$10, as reported by your Sunday newspaper.

As far as I am aware, according to US Federal income tax law, the following questions now exist in the public domain and are of special interest to citizens and residents in light of new property tax laws here.

What price did Minister Edmund Dillon pay to acquire the property in Manhattan? And now that it is sold for US$10, what are the tax implications to Dillon, and to his friend in Manhattan?

To undervalue property in the US for the purpose of a sale or even for the purpose of a gift to friends and family carries implications in terms of capital gains taxes and losses, as well as estate taxes, and any scandalous sub-value must be the subject of a tax fraud investigation.

So can US property owners evade estate taxes in the US by giving away such property to friends and family. That is illegal to my knowledge. But if it is not tax fraud in the US, would not be tax fraud here? So what if my neighbour rents his $5 million property to his friend or his son for $10 per month? The implications are more than hilarious.

To the best of my knowledge, property subject to estate taxes can only be exchanged in arm’s-length transactions for a fair market value, so that would-be “smartmen” are prevented from evading taxes. Tax evasion is a crime. So what is next?

RAZIAH AHMED

former president, Senate