Is an unsigned contract still valid?

My friend has a contract for a land purchase sitting right in front of her, and she hasn't signed a single thing yet. That is...
It was land owned by my uncle. He bought it, sure, but he never actually transferred the title into his own name—he just left it sitting there.
He dropped the cash and bailed—as if his only goal was to make sure the whole damn town knew he was the one who bought it.

So then my uncle told the guy he bought the land from a hundred years ago that no...
He isn't even writing that in his own name. He’s putting it all under his niece's name instead. It's just him and that uncle of hers pulling strings behind the scenes.
The seller went straight to Billings with the contract in hand, where they’re actually finalizing the sale.
God bless Ivanna—she’s the granddaughter of that man who handed it all over a century ago.
Money is flying out the window, and she wasn't even in the room when Billings was making those calls. It’s ridiculous.
He only verified it with the seller's signature and said they'd send that contract over to us later.
Just take her down to Cleveland where my niece is located. She can get everything signed and notarized there by someone else.
Billings.

So, what’s the actual issue here? The problem is that my niece refuses to get her name on the deed.
They’ll grab the land just to pay off the property taxes, but don't expect them to actually build anything. They can't even get a project off the ground right now if they tried.
Building out there? Honestly, if she starts construction, the IRS is going to come knocking before the foundation is even poured. They’ll find any excuse to pin that tax bill on her, especially since she operates like... well, you know how it goes.
Is a buyer actually bound by that contract, or can they just play the "I didn't sign that" card?
"I didn't intend to buy it, so I'm not paying the tax"? Is that really how this works? Give me a break.
Or will the IRS just grab her by the throat regardless?

basically, no signature means no tax...

Roger Sanders said:My friend has a contract for a land purchase sitting right in front of her, and she hasn't signed a single thing yet. That is...
It was land owned by my uncle. He bought it, sure, but he never actually transferred the title into his own name—he just left it sitting there.
He dropped the cash and bailed—as if his only goal was to make sure the whole damn town knew he was the one who bought it.

So then my uncle told the guy he bought the land from a hundred years ago that no...
He isn't even writing that in his own name. He’s putting it all under his niece's name instead. It's just him and that uncle of hers pulling strings behind the scenes.
The seller went straight to Billings with the contract in hand, where they’re actually finalizing the sale.
God bless Ivanna—she’s the granddaughter of that man who handed it all over a century ago.
Money is flying out the window, and she wasn't even in the room when Billings was making those calls. It’s ridiculous.
He only verified it with the seller's signature and said they'd send that contract over to us later.
Just take her down to Cleveland where my niece is located. She can get everything signed and notarized there by someone else.
Billings.

So, what’s the actual issue here? The problem is that my niece refuses to get her name on the deed.
They’ll grab the land just to pay off the property taxes, but don't expect them to actually build anything. They can't even get a project off the ground right now if they tried.
Building out there? Honestly, if she starts construction, the IRS is going to come knocking before the foundation is even poured. They’ll find any excuse to pin that tax bill on her, especially since she operates like... well, you know how it goes.
Is a buyer actually bound by that contract, or can they just play the "I didn't sign that" card?
"I didn't intend to buy it, so I'm not paying the tax"? Is that really how this works? Give me a break.
Or will the IRS just grab her by the throat regardless?

Hold up a second—is that actually written on the receipt before the 100-gram mark? Because honestly, you don't even need a signature from the buyer or the recipient; all that matters is the person doing the selling or handing it over... right?
I mean, seriously, since when did anyone ever actually demand we pay taxes on a hundred grams? Not now, and probably not ever, so why is everyone acting like the sky is falling?

Oh, please, it hasn't even been 100 years. 🙂 That’s just a figure of speech. This actually happened maybe 20 or 30 years ago. My uncle bought some land from his neighbor, but they were being sneaky—they wrote into the contract that he was only buying the right of possession (just the entry in the local land registry) specifically to dodge paying taxes. On the official deed, the neighbor still showed up as the owner.

Then my uncle says he doesn't even want to transfer the title to himself because he has no use for the land; he wants it to go straight to his niece. So, my uncle and his neighbor went to see a notary public, where the neighbor signed a sales agreement stating he was selling it directly to the niece. Her name is listed there as the buyer, but the space where her signature should be is completely blank since she wasn't even present at the notary's office.

That’s why I thought she could just tell the IRS that she never signed anything, that she wasn't even there, and that the whole thing was done behind her back. She could claim she has no intention of paying taxes or registering the property.

Without a signature, there’s no contract, period.
And without a contract, you aren't paying a dime in taxes.