Ok, so I'm an economist not a tax lawyer, but still got a kick out of this one...

TaxProf Blog: IRS Defines Death for Tax Purposes as "Separation from Life"

IRS Defines Death for Tax Purposes as "Separation from Life"

The IRS has released Notice 2007-90, which defines "death" for tax purposes:

" [T]the Treasury will consider a service provider to be dead if the service provider's death meets the criteria necessary for a separation from life. ... A service provider separates from life with the service recipient if the service provider has a termination of all mental and bodily functions. However, the service provider's life is treated as continuing intact while the individual is temporarily unconscious, having an out of body experience, cryogenically frozen or experiencing another bona fide leave of absence from the individual's conscious state, if the period of such leave does not exceed ten minutes, or if longer, so long as the individual retains a right to regain life and/or reanimation under an applicable contract (with the devil or otherwise) or other arrangement."

HT: TaxProfBlog; Jack Bogdanski & Michael Kreps.

Full ruling here. Be sure to check out example #2.

Mauled by a cougar. | Posted October 1, 2007 10:19 PM by John Irons