As time passed, several of the Salvatore children moved on while the land on which the gas station was located became increasingly valuable, to the point where several oil companies made offers to purchase the property.

The United States Tax Court ruled that the petitioner, Susie Salvatore, was taxable on all of the gain realized on the sale of the gas station.

The tax consequences which arise from gains from a sale of property are not finally to be determined solely by the means employed to transfer legal title.

[2]The Tax Court viewed the petitioner's children as "conduit's through which to pass title" and stated that, "the form of a transaction cannot be permitted to prevail over its substance.

On a similar note, "[H]er tax liabilities cannot be altered by a rearrangement of the legal title after she had already contracted to sell the property to Texaco.

"[3] In Helvering v. Horst,[4] the United States Supreme Court held: that transfers of the rights to income may not be effective in shifting the tax burden to the recipient of that incomeIn Estate of Stranahan v. Commissioner,[5] the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit addressed the situation where the income rights are sold instead of gifted.