Designated Orders:  7/10/2017 – 7/14/2017

The Petitioners filed a petition with Tax Court.  In summarizing the petition, this order states that during the IRS review of the whistleblower claims, “the IRS had engaged in negligent conduct, misfeasance, malfeasance, and/or nonfeasance, and discriminative audit policies.  They further alleged that the IRS had permitted flawed tax returns to go unaudited, ignored evidence of systemic prohibited transactions, and wrongfully disallowed petitioners’ claims.  Petitioners requested that the Court conclude that the IRS acted arbitrarily, declare that an implied contract was created between the parties, direct the IRS to enforce Federal income tax laws, and determine that they are entitled to damages equal to the fair market value of their services.”  In their motions for partial summary judgment, the petitioners also accuse the IRS of unreasonable delay, misuse and mismanagement of government resources and administrative delay leading to abuse of discretion.

The Court granted the IRS motion for summary judgment since there was no genuine dispute as to any material fact (the standard for granting summary judgment).  No tax proceeds were collected from a taxpayer to grant a whistleblower award, plus the claims and relief sought by the petitioners were not cognizable by the Court.

My main take on the situation was that being disrespectful to the IRS did not garner the Petitioners any favor with the Tax Court.

Some Quick Takes on Summary Judgments

Docket # 14345-16 L, Russell T. Burkhalter v. C.I.R. (Order Here)

Docket # 12320-16SL, Heath Davis v. C.I.R. (Order and Decision Here)

• In both the Davis and Burkhalter cases, Judge Armen states that to assist petitioners in preparing a response to the IRS motion for summary judgment, the Court encloses with its Order (for petitioner to file a response to the motion) a copy of Q&A’s the Court prepared on the subject “What is a motion for summary judgment?”
• In Burkhalter, the petitioner did not dispute the underlying tax liability for 2010, 2011 and 2013 when using Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing.  However, petitioner did dispute the liability for those years when filing a petition with the Tax Court.  The Court granted summary judgment for the IRS, citing a regulation that states:  “Where the taxpayer previously received a CDP Notice under section 6320 with respect to the same tax and tax period and did not request a CDP hearing with respect to that earlier CDP Notice, the taxpayer already had an opportunity to dispute the existence or amount of the underlying tax liability.”
• In Davis, there is a theme of the petitioner citing hardship but not being responsive to IRS requests.  In response to a notice of intent to levy, Mr. Davis said he was going through hardship and had expenses exceeding income when filing his own Form 12153.  The settlement officer requested Mr. Davis fill out a Form 433-A financial statement and show proof of estimated tax payments.  On Mr. Davis’s 433-A, he showed income of $2,100 with greater expenses while the settlement officer calculated income of $2,994 with expenses of $2,473, leaving $521 to potentially pay the IRS each month.  Mr. Davis was unresponsive to later requests.  Based on a Notice of Determination, Mr. Davis petitioned the Tax Court.  In the petition and amended petition, Mr. Davis requested payment arrangements, potentially of $50 monthly.  The Court granted summary judgment to the IRS based on Mr. Davis’s nonresponsiveness, citing that it is the obligation of the taxpayer and not the reviewing officer to propose collection alternatives.  My take on the situation is that while those conclusions may be procedurally correct, it sounds like Mr. Davis needed some form of assistance and then both parties would have had a better result.

Docket # 26557-15 L, Michael Timothy Bushey v. C.I.R. (Order and Decision Here)

There are two main issues in this case, whether there was abuse of discretion by the settlement officer and the underlying tax liability for the petitioner.

• Petitioner filed a Form 12153 and the IRS acknowledged receipt by letter dated May 21, 2015.  The settlement officer sent a response on May 28 scheduling a phone conference for July 17, requesting information and stating that the petitioner could contact her to reschedule or set an in-person conference.  The officer was sick on July 17 so sent a letter July 20 rescheduling the phone hearing for August 4, also stating no documents had been received.  On August 4, she received a phone message from Petitioner stating that he would be unavailable for a hearing that day but would be available the first or second week of September.  She sent a letter scheduling the hearing for September 2.  On September 2, she was unable to reach the Petitioner but received a letter the next day acknowledging receipt of the August 5 letter stating he did not request a phone conference and that “by law” he was entitled to a “due process hearing.”  At each point, the petitioner did not send any of the requested supporting documents.  On September 22, Appeals sent Petitioner a Notice of Determination letter.  A lengthy summary was attached to the letter and was also quoted at length in the order currently being discussed.  The Court granted the IRS summary judgment, stating there had been no abuse of discretion in their collection actions.  It also was not an abuse of discretion since there was no in-person meeting between the settlement officer and the Petitioner.  I would state there was quite the opposite of an abuse of discretion since the settlement officer made several attempts to get information from the Petitioner.
• Regarding the tax liability itself, in the Petitioner’s Form 12153 for 2008, he checked the box for an Offer in Compromise and stated, “I do not owe this money.  It was a tax credit, not a tax owed.  It was a first time home buyers credit and it was based on the first & only house I have ever purchased.”  The settlement officer had requested he submit to her a Form 656, Offer in Compromise, but that did not happen.  In his petition based on the Notice of Determination, Petitioner said, “The amount in dispute was not back taxes or unpaid taxes, but a tax credit (a.k.a. loan).  The amount was discharged under bankruptcy chapter 7 action.”  He said area counsel recommended he file an Offer in Compromise that had been rejected “over and over.”  In court on November 28, 2016, Petitioner stated he already submitted an Offer in Compromise to the IRS with all requested financial information and would be willing to submit another.  The record reflected the parties entered a stipulated decision and following that, the Petitioner submitted and the IRS rejected an Offer in Compromise regarding 2008.  The Court had recommended that Petitioner file an Offer in Compromise with the assistance of Pine Tree Legal Assistance, Inc.  The Court then stated it hoped the IRS will “hold off on proceeding with the proposed collection action to give petitioner an opportunity…to submit an offer in compromise,” perhaps with the above-mentioned low income taxpayer clinic’s assistance.
• With regard to an Offer in Compromise on a 2008 first-time homebuyer credit (which I agree was basically an interest-free loan, depending on the timing of the credit), it is my understanding that the full amount of the credit owed must be a liability assessed by the IRS before it can be addressed in an Offer in Compromise.  In order to do so, it may be necessary to amend a tax return to state that the taxpayer owes the entirety of the credit as of that tax year.  Once that full credit is a liability owed to the IRS, the credit can then be negotiated through the Offer in Compromise program.  Hopefully Mr. Bushey uses that procedure to address the amount owed through the credit in his Offer in Compromise.