Hendrickson - Tax Court Sustains Civil Tax Liabilities

[Burnaby49]

That's certainly how it works in Canada. The Canada Revenue Agency can't appeal to Tax Court, only taxpayers can appeal. The reason is obvious. The Tax Court reviews CRA assessments that taxpayers are unhappy with. Why would the CRA want to appeal their own assessment?

[LaVidaRoja]

I remember sitting in Tax Court years ago and hearing a petitioner (who was an attorney btw) stand up and begin to argue that the government had to establish their case. The judge firmly instructed her that she was the petitioner, she had initiated the litigation and the burden was on HER.

[jcolvin2]

Will Paralogistic, Pontificating, Prevaricating Pete pursue the promulgation of a pointless petition for writ of certiorari at the U.S. Supreme Court?

Perhaps . . . . .

Well, the Hendricksons have the option of requested panel rehearing or rehearing en banc from the Sixth Circuit before petitioning for certiorari at the Supreme Court level.

[Pottapaug1938]

Will Paralogistic, Pontificating, Prevaricating Pete pursue the promulgation of a pointless petition for writ of certiorari at the U.S. Supreme Court?

Perhaps . . . . .

Well, the Hendricksons have the option of requested panel rehearing or rehearing en banc from the Sixth Circuit before petitioning for certiorari at the Supreme Court level.

Any such petitions will be swiftly denied. Then, the Hendricksons will petition the SCOTUS for certiorari; and when that petition is denied, the Hendricksons will banner it as a VICTORY!!!!!!!!, because they have proved just how corrupt our court system is, or something.

[Burnaby49]

Again, same here. When a taxpayer appeals an assessment to the Tax Court of Canada the taxpayer has to prove that the assessment is incorrect. There are a few instances where the onus is reversed and the CRA has to prove it is correct but those are very infrequent.

[notorial dissent]

If you take in to consideration that what we now call the "Tax Court" was originally the something or other something or other Tax Review Board, within the IRS I believe, then it all makes perfect sense. They upped it to what we now call "The Tax Court" back in days long gone. Its purpose is still the same, to review tax decisions by the IRS, so it is essentially the appellate/review court for tax decisions, and if the petitioner/taxpayer doesn't like it they can then go to the District Court and essentially start over. At which point ya pays yo money yo takes yo chances.

If Pratlin' Pete et etux rum true to form they'll ask rehearing, then enbanc, the try for cert, failing at each level as they have done in all previous cases.

[jcolvin2]

If you take in to consideration that what we now call the "Tax Court" was originally the something or other something or other Tax Review Board, within the IRS I believe, then it all makes perfect sense. They upped it to what we now call "The Tax Court" back in days long gone. Its purpose is still the same, to review tax decisions by the IRS, so it is essentially the appellate/review court for tax decisions, and if the petitioner/taxpayer doesn't like it they can then go to the District Court and essentially start over. At which point ya pays yo money yo takes yo chances.

If Pratlin' Pete et etux rum true to form they'll ask rehearing, then enbanc, the try for cert, failing at each level as they have done in all previous cases.

The old body was known as the Board of Tax Appeals. Citations to "BTA" refer to cases decided by this body before it was transformed into the U.S. Tax Court.

With respect to its tax deficiency jurisdiction, the Tax Court does not function as an appellate body in a technical sense. Decisions are made on a de novo basis, and the Tax Court does not ordinarily care what happened during the course of an audit. If the taxpayer (or the IRS) doesn't like the Tax Court's determination, they can appeal the decision to the geographically-appropriate Circuit Court of Appeals, which functions as a true appellate court, relying on the lower court's findings of fact (unless "clearly erroneous").

There is no method for the taxpayer to contest an adverse Tax Court decision in the district court by paying the tax, filing a claim for refund and litigating the denial of that claim in the district court. Once the Tax Court's jurisdiction is invoked, that court will decide the tax liability for the year at issue; the district court cannot overrule it.

If a taxpayer wants to have his or her case litigated in the district court (or Court of Federal Claims), he or she must NOT file a Tax Court petition contesting a Notice of Deficiency. Instead, the taxpayer must allow the tax to be assessed, pay the tax, and then file a claim for refund. When the claim is denied (as it almost inevitably will), file suit in the district court. If the taxpayer or the government is unhappy with a district court decision, that decision is appealable to the geographically appropriate Circuit Court of Appeals (the same court that would hear an appeal from a Tax Court decision involving the same taxpayer). If the taxpayer or the government is unhappy with a Court of Federal Claims decision, that decision is appealable to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.