A recent Tax Court decision was reported dealing with Non-filers & Delinquent. J. Frank Best, Tax Controversy CPA/U. S. Tax Court Litigator with locations in Raleigh and Wilmington, NC & North Myrtle Beach and Myrtle Beach, SC works to stay current on all IRS decisions concerning tax litigation to ensure we are fully informed and prepared for clients.
A Non-Filer & Delinquent Taxpayer Was Not Entitled to Itemized Deductions on Substitute Return
Filed by IRS
The Tax Court held that a taxpayer, nonfiler and delinquent, who failed to file a tax return because he was incarcerated could not itemize deductions for the year at issue because, under Code Sec. 63, a taxpayer must make an election in order to itemize and by failing to file a return, the taxpayer failed to make the election. According to the court, the taxpayer’s argument that (1) he did not have access to certain records due to his incarceration, and (2) if he had filed a return, he could have reported deductible expenses in excess of the standard deduction, did not create a genuine dispute as to a material fact sufficient to overcome the IRS’s motion for summary judgment. George v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2019-128.