A Year Of Lessons From The Tax Court (2018)

Here is a chronological listing of all the Lessons From The Tax Court I posted in 2018, with links to, the Lesson, the primary case discussed and its author.  I have also listed the primary Code sections mentioned or discussed in the Lesson.  

January 8: Reporting Income v. Reporting Information, Mehrdad Rafizadeh v. Commissioner, 150 T.C. No. 1 (January 2, 2018) — IRC §6038D, §6501

January 15: What Are They Thinking?, Curtis Eugene Ankerberg v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-1 (Jan. 8, 2018) (Judge Cohen) & Joan Farr f.k.a. Joan Heffington v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-2 (Jan. 9, 2018) (Judge Chiechi) — IRM 4.10.4.6.4, §4958

January 22: Treasury Regulations And The APA, SIH Partners LLLP, et al. v. Commissioner, 150 T.C. No. 3 — Treas. Reg. 1.217-2(b)(1), Treas. Reg. 1.162-6, Section 951, §956, 1.956-1, 1.956-2, 29 Fed. Reg. 2591, 2599

January 29: Country Music Ain't All Business, Joy Ford v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-8 (Jan. 25, 2018) (Judge Foley) — §162, Section 262, §6662, §6751

February 5: Forms Follow Function In Return Filing, Melissa Coffey Hulett a.k.a. Melissa Coffey, et al v. Commissioner, 150 T.C. No. 4 (January 20th, 2018) (Judge Holmes) — IRC §6501(a), IRC §932(c)(2), §6012

February 12: Arguments Are Not Evidence, Brandon Brown and Christi Cloaninger Brown v. Commissioner, T.C. Sum. Op. 2018-6 (Feb. 5, 2018) (Judge Laro) — Section 212, §263, §7463, §7491

February 19: The Phantom Of The Tax Code—Discharge Of Indebtedness, John Anthony Glennon v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-4 & Michelle Keel v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-5 — IRS Publication 4681, §108

February 26: Underwater Debtors, Michael J. Burke and Jane S. Burke v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-18 — Section 166, §1001

March 5: The Tax Lawyer's Wedding Toast, Sugar Land Ranch Development, LLC, Sugar Land Advisors, LLC, Tax Matters Partner v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2018-21 (February 22, 2018) — 1221(a), §1237

March 12: The Common Law Of Tax, Celia Mazzei v. Commissioner and Angelo L, and Mary E. Mazzei v. Commissioner, 150 T.C. No. 7 (March 5, 2018) (Judge Thornton) — §671 et seq, 150 T.C. No. 7

March 19: The Turbo-Tax Defense, Karl F. Simonsen and Christina M. Simonsen v. Commissioner, 150 T.C. No. 8 (Mar. 14, 2018) — §6751(b)(1), §6664(c)(1), §212, §165, California Code of Civil Procedure §580b, Treas. Reg. 1.165-9(b), IRS publication 544, IRS publication 4681

March 26: Why Labor Is Not Deductible, Or, Love’s Labor Lost, James Edward Bradley Jr. and Margaret Letitia Hayes-Hunter v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Op. 2018-13 (Mar. 19, 2018) (Judge Panuthos) — 1953-2 C.B. 23, 1957-1 C.B. 77, 1958-2 C.B. 53

April 2: Twitty Burgers!, Harold Jenkins v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1983-667 (Judge Irwin)

April 9: One Year At A Time, Shane Havener and Amy E. Costa v. Commissioner, T.C. Sum. Op. 2018-17 (Apr. 4, 2018) & Gary K. Sherman and Gwendolyn L. Sherman v. Commissioner, T.C. Sum. Op. 2018-15 (Apr. 2, 2018) (Judge Panuthos) — §7463, Rules 170 et. seq, 827 F.3d 968, §6694

April 16: Better Lucky Than Good, Stacey S. Marks v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-49 (Judge Morrison) — §4975(c), §408(e)(2)(A), Section 4973

April 23: It's Still An Adversarial Process, Aaron Keith Nicholson v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Opinion 2018-24 (Judge Guy) — §262, §162, §183

April 30: The Cohan Doctrine Cannot Always Save You, Stanislav Antoniev Dimitrov v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Opinion 2018-21 (Judge Arman)

May 7: The Role Of Equity, Connie L. Minton a.k.a. Connie L. Keeney v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-15 (Feb. 5, 2018) & Emery Celli Cuti Brinckerhoff & Abady, P.C. v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2018-55 (Apr. 24, 2018) — Section 6013, §6015, Rev. Proc. 2013-34

May 14: The Reach Of Equity, Emery Celli Cuti Brinckerhoff & Abady, P.C. v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-55 (Apr. 24, 2018) — §6501(b)(2)

May 21: The Role Of State Law In Federal Taxation, Vincent C. Hamilton and Stephanie Hamilton v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-62 (May 8, 2018) — Section 61, Section 108

May 29: A Tax Truism, RB-1 Investment Partners, Eric Reinhart, Tax Matters Partner v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-64 (May 14, 2018) (Judge Holmes) — §6665(c)(1)

June 4: A Haunting, Graev v. Commissioner, 149 T.C. No. 23 (Dec. 20, 2017) (Judge Holmes) — §6751(b)(1), §6203(a), §7491(c)

June 11: What Makes Tax Law Complex, Engesser v. Commissioner, TC Summary Opinion 2018-29 (June 4, 2018) (Judge Colvin) — §152(e), Form 8332, Treas.Reg. 1.152-4(d)(1)

June 18: Where Is A Retiree's Tax Home?, Roger G. Maki and Lilane J. Gervais v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Op. 2018-30 (June 6, 2018) (Judge Gerber) — §162, §262, §183

June 25: Into The Weeds on COGS, Laurel Alterman and William A. Gibson v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-83 (June 13, 2018) (Judge Morrison) — §167, §179, §168(k), §168(a), §1001, Treas. Reg. 1.471-11(b), Rev. Proc. 2000-22, Rev. Proc. 2001-10

July 2: The One Return Rule, Gary Gaskin and Jessie Gaskin v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-89 (June 20, 2018) (Judge Buch) — §6012, SCA 1998-024

July 9: Naked Assessments!, Gerald Nelson v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-95 (June 28, 2018) & Mohammad Najafpir v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-103 (July 3, 2018) 

July 16: An 'Origin of the Claim' Test For §104(a)(2) Exclusions, Jacques L. French and Sherry L. French v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Op. 2018-36 (July 12, 2018) — §104(a)(2), §162, 104(a)(2)

July 23: Origin Of The Claim Test For §162, Sky M. Lucas v. Commissioner, T.C. Mem.o 2018-80 (June 11, 2018) (Judge Vasquez) — §1.262-1(b)(7)

July 30: The Power Of The Form 872 Waiver, Inman Partners, RCB Investments, LLC, Tax Matters Partner, v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-114 (July 23, 2018) (Judge Holmes) — §6031(b), §706, §6229, §6072(a), IRM In 8.21.3.1.1

August 6: The Ole December 31st Check Problem — Treas.Reg. 1.170A-1(b)

August 13: When Hornung Won The 'Vette — Treas. Reg. 1.61-1(a)

August 20: No Relief For Miscalculating ACA Premiums, Terry Jay Grant and Twila Rose Grant v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-119 (Aug.1, 2018) & Luis Palafox and Hilda Arellano v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-124 (Aug. 7, 2018) — §36B, Treas. Reg. 1.36B-1

August 27: The Misunderstood Trust Fund Recovery Penalty, Kathy Bletsas v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-128 (Aug. 14, 2018) (Judge Lauber) — §6672, §7501(a), 3402(a), 3102(a), §31(a), §6751(b), IRM 5.14.7, IRM 5.7.6

September 4: The Common Law Of Tax, Pacific Management Group, BSC Leasing, Inc., Tax Matters Partner, Et. al v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-131 (Aug. 20, 2018) (Judge Lauber)

September 10: No Stopping The Perpetual Debate About Conservation Easements, Harbor Lofts Associates, Crowninshield Corporation, Tax Matters Partner v. Commissioner, 151 T.C. No. 3 (Aug. 27, 2018) — Section 170(a), 880 F.3d 519

September 17: Distinguishing Property Settlement From (Indirect) Alimony, Jeremy Adam Vanderhal v. Commissioner, T.C. Sum. Op. 2018-41 (Sept. 5, 2018) (Judge Carluzzo) — Treas. Reg. 1.71-1T(b), §1041, Treas Reg. 1.1041-1T

September 24: The Substantial Substantiation Rules In §170, Estelle C. Grainger v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-117 (July 30, 2018) — §170, Treas. Reg. 170A-1(c)(1), Treas.Reg. 1.170A-13(b)(3)(i), 11 U.S.C. §727, 523(a)(1)(A), §6501, §6502, 11 U.S.C. §362(b)(9)

October 1: When Non-Receipt Of An IRS Notice Matters, Paul T. Venable, II v. Commissioner, T. C. Memo. 2018-144 (Sept. 10, 2018) (Judge Pugh) — §7803(a)(3), §6330(c), Treas. Reg. 301.6212-2

October 8: What Is A 'Liability' For §108 Purposes?, Richard Bryan Jackson and Nora Irene Jackson v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2018-43 (Sept. 17, 2018) — §6662

October 15: Using CDP To Stop The Collection Train, James Loveland Jr., and Tina C. Loveland v. Commissioner, 151 T.C. No. 7 (Sept. 25, 2018) 

October 22: The TFRP Trap For Accommodating Payroll Service Providers, Joanna Kane v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-122 (Aug. 6, 2018) — Section 6672, §7501(a), IRM 8.25, IRM 5.19.14, IRM 8.25.1.3.1, 6330(c)(2)(B)

October 29: When Payments To A Pastor Are Not Gifts, Wayne R. Felton and Deondra J. Felton v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-168 (Oct. 10, 2018) (Judge Holmes) — §102, §107

November 5: Last Known Address Rules Apply To The Rich And Famous Too, Daniel Sadek v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-174 (Oct. 16, 2018) (Judge Goeke) — §6212, Treas. Reg. 301.6212-2, Rev. Proc. 2010-16

November 12: The Hotel California Rule, Daniel Sadek v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-174 (Oct. 16, 2018) — 11 U.S.C. §505, Fla. Rules of Civil Procedure 1.420, Treas. Reg. 301.6320-1(e)(3), 11 U.S.C. §362

November 19: Counting The Days, Randy Richardson and Melisa Richardson v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-189 (Nov. 13, 2018) — §362, §301(b), §727(a), §523, §507

November 26: NOD Reprints Are Not Copies, But May Still Trigger Presumption Of Correctness, Jeffrey D. Gregory v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2018-192 (Nov. 20, 2018) (Judge Halpern) — IRM 4.8.9.11, Federal Rule of Evidence 1001(e)

December 3: Taxpayers Behaving Badly, Magloire K. Ayissi-Etoh and Katrina D. Sharpe v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2018-107 (July 9, 2018) (Judge Lauber) — §274, Treas. Reg. 1.274-2(e)(2)(I)

For other years' Lessons From the Tax Court, see:

• A Year Of Lessons From The Tax Court (2021)
• A Year Of Lessons From The Tax Court (2020)
• A Year Of Lessons From The Tax Court (2019)
• A Year Of Lessons From The Tax Court (2018)
• A Year Of Lessons From The Tax Court (2017)