card to preserve subsidies given by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the decedent’s farming operation. Although the decedent spent the vast majority of his life in Pakistan, died without knowing English, and spent fourteen of his last eighteen years exclusively in Pakistan (facts suggesting no intention to permanently reside in the U.S.), the U.S. Tax Court treated him as a resident for Estate Tax purposes. The court placed substantial weight on the fact that (i) the vast majority of the decedent’s business assets were located in the U.S., (ii) the decedent had obtained a green card and Social Security number, and (iii) the decedent had applied for a U.S. re-entry permit prior to his last trip to Pakistan (although he never returned to the U.S.). The Tax Court noted that the decedent would have returned to the U.S. but for a debilitating medical condition. Curiously, the court also seemed to give weight to the fact that the taxpayer’s family had a history of immigrating to the United States. This family history factor may be a cause for concern from a planning perspective because the
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