New York. "It is a tax not on property but on succession, that is to say a tax on the legatee for the privilege of succeeding to property."

It was pointed out that the federal tax of 1898 was not upon property and was payable out of the legacy, not out of the estate

—involved a state succession tax and a federal succession tax under the War Revenue Act of 1898, which was wholly different from the Estate Tax of 1916 which is not a tax on the succession.

A Stock Exchange seat having been declared to be property, subject to a transfer tax prior to the enactment of the Tax Law of 1896, it is insisted that no change in the law has been wrought by the revision of the tax laws in this state by the legislature of 1896, and that it is still subject to the tax

In ascertaining the value of an estate for the purpose of the transfer tax, "said Surrogate Fowler in Matter of Stephen Van Rensselaer, NY Law Journal, October 11, 1912," the appraiser should deduct from the assets of the estate the commissions which may be allowed to an executor or administrator

Since the payment of the transfer tax upon this estate, the Court of Appeals has decided that the amount represented by the expense of administration never passes to the legatees or next of kin, and is, therefore, not subject to the transfer tax

—the New York transfer tax should not be deducted in determining the federal estate tax, on the ground that it was not payable out of the estate.

Subsequently to the payment of the transfer tax, the Court of Appeals, in an entirely different matter

"The collateral inheritance tax does not attach to the very articles of property of which the deceased died possessed. It is imposed only on what remains for distribution after expenses of administration, debts and rightful claims of third parties are paid or provided for. It is on the net successions to the beneficiaries."

The time element is also relevant here, in that the inheritance tax is a tax on the succession, and these expenses are incurred before any distribution is made