1) Dad decides he wants to transfer Blackacre to his Son. Blackacre is worth 100k. He does not want to have his son pay interest, and he does not want to give Blackacre to his son outright. So, he decides to enter a series of (10) 1-year put agreements with his son. The put agreement is an agreement by which Dad can require Son to buy the 1/10 of the property each year for 10k. It is Dad’s intent to either require Son to buy 1/10 each year or to gift Son 1/10 each year depending on Dad’s economic situation. Will this structure be respected? What if Dad required 50k of option consideration up front?
2) TP wants to lease a computer to Y but TP believes that the computer will become economically obsolete within 3 years. The computer is worth 5k. TP and Y agree that Y will lease the computer for $1,250 per year, but at the end of the 3-year period, the computer will be appraised and if it is worth less than $2,000, Y will pay the difference to TP or Y can buy it from TP for $2,000. Is this a sale or a lease? Why is this different, if at all, from a vehicle lease? If TP elected to report this as a sale, but under a later tax audit, decided to change his mind and report it as a lease, would TP be successful?
