Partnership Sales: When Nonrecourse Debt Exceeds Fair Market Value, Commissioner v. Tufts

The United States Supreme Court has used its decision in Commissioner v. Tufts to settle a conflict between circuits and to fine tune an ambiguity which it created thirty-six years ago in Crane v. Commissioner. The circumstances focus on a taxpayer who sells his partnership interest by having the purchaser assume nonrecourse debt to which the partnership property is subject.