A Year Of Lessons From The Tax Court (2020)

Here is a chronological listing of all the Lessons From The Tax Court I posted in 2020, 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.  

Jan. 6:  Taxpayer Who Got $1.6m Assessment Reduced To $170k Not Entitled To Costs (Klopfenstein v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2019-156 (Dec. 9, 2019) (Judge Lauber) — § 7430)

Jan. 13:  A Practical Interpretation Of The Penalty Approval Statute § 6751 (Belair Woods LLC v. Commissioner, 154 T.C. No. 1 (Jan. 6, 2020) (Judge Lauber); Tribune Media Co. v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-2 (Jan. 6, 2020) (Judge Buch) — § 6751)

Jan. 20:  Employee Cannot Deduct Expense That Could Have Been Reimbursed (Near v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-10 (Jan. 14, 2020) (Judge Kerrigan) — § 162)

Jan. 27: §6672 Trust Fund Recovery Penalty Is Really A Penalty ... Sort Of (Chadwick v. Commissioner, 154 T.C. No 5 (Jan. 21, 2020) (Judge Lauber) — § 6672)

Feb. 3: The Common Law Mailbox Rule Lives! (Seely v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-6 (Jan. 13, 2020) (Judge Vasquez) — § 7502)

Feb. 10: Drafting Error Costs Client $16 Million Deduction (Railroad Holdings LLC, v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-22 (Feb. 5, 2020) (Judge Gustafson) — § 170(a))

Feb. 17: IRS Automated Matching Program Not An 'Examination' (Essner v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-23 (Feb. 12, 2020) (Judge Marvel) — § 7605(b))

Feb. 24: What Is 'New Matter' That Shifts Burden Of Proof To IRS? (Keels v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-25 (Feb. 19, 2020) (Judge Colvin) — § 409A)

Mar. 2: Taxpayer Cannot Cure Reporting Error During Audit (Oakhill Woods v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-24 (Feb. 13, 2020) (Judge Lauber) — § 7805(a))

Mar. 9: New Contract Turns Deductible Travel Into Non-Deductible Commute (Biegalski v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2019-35 (Dec. 3, 2019) (Judge Colvin) — § 262)

Mar. 16: The Two Postmark Rule And The Rule Of Law (Thomas v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-33 (Mar. 11, 2020) (Judge Vasquez) — § 7502)

Mar. 23: Last Known Address Rules And The Rule Of Law (Chapman v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2019-110 (Aug. 29, 2019) (Judge Ashford) — § 6503(a))

Mar. 30: One Plus One Equals One (McNamee v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-37 (Mar. 18, 2020) (Judge Lauber) — § 6321)

Apr. 6: The Long And Short Of CDP (Wong v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-32 (Mar. 5, 2020) (Judge Lauber); Goldberg v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-38 (Apr. 2, 2020) (Judge Morrison) — § 6330)

Apr. 13: Penalty Approval Form Invalid When Penalty Not Properly Identified (Campbell v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-41 (Apr. 7, 2020) (Judge Ashford) — § 6662)

Apr. 20: Distinguishing Child Support From Alimony (Biddle v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-39 (Apr. 6, 2020) (Judge Vasquez) — § 11051(a))

Apr. 27: Using Legislative History To Clarify Ambiguous Text (Laue v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2020-14 (Apr. 20, 2020) (Judge Panuthos) — § 72(t))

May 4: The Eye Of The CDP Needle (Shepherd v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-45 (Apr. 13, 2020) (Judge Guy); Patrick’s Payroll Services, Inc. v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-47 (Apr. 14, 2020) (Judge Urda) — § 6330(c)(2)(B))

May 11: Late Is Late! The Impact Of COVID-19 On Filing Petitions (Smith v. Commissioner, Docket No. 3463-20 (Order of Dismissal) (May 7, 2020) (Judge Foley) — § 6213)

May 18: Selling Home Not Always Required For Installment Agreement (Kirkley and Kirkley, T.C. Memo. 2020-57 (May 13, 2020) (Judge Colvin) — § 6334(a)(13))

May 26: Appeals Can Change Its Mind (Richlin v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-60 (May 18, 2020) (Judge Halpern) — § 6320)

Jun. 1: Litigation Funding Agreements Were Not Loans (Novoselsky v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-68 (May 28, 2020) (Judge Lauber) — Litigation Funding Transparency Act)

Jun. 8: Do The Right Thing (Aguilar v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2020-16 (May 26, 2020) (Judge Gerber); McCarthy v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-74 (June 3, 2020) (Judge Thornton) — § 62 & § 67)

Jun. 15: How To Pay A Deficiency And Still Get To Tax Court (Peacock v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-63 (May 19, 2020) (Judge Vasquez) — § 6213 & § 6214)

Jun. 22: How Taxpayers Can Sometimes Benefit From IRS Errors (Moukhitdinov v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-86 (June 16, 2020) (Judge Colvin); Cosio v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-90 (June 18, 2020) (Judge Vasquez) — § 6212 & § 6213)

Jun. 29: Cheshire Cat Jurisdiction Over Passport Revocation Petitions (Ruesch v. Commissioner, 154 T.C. No. 13 (June 25, 2020) (Judge Lauber) — § 7345)

Jul. 6: Being Too Smart Precludes Innocent Spouse Relief (Rogers v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-91 (June 18, 2020) (Judge Goeke) — § 6015(b))

Jul. 13: The #1 Habit Of Highly Successful Taxpayers (Simpson v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-100 (July 7, 2020) (Judge Buch) — § 262, § 162, & § 62)

Jul. 20: How Evil §481 Forces Income Recapture (Pinkston and Pinkston, T.C. Memo. 2020-44 (April 13, 2020) (Judge Lauber) — § 481)

Jul. 27: The CDP Consequences Of A Failure To Communicate (Barnhill v. Commissioner, 155 T.C. No. 1 (July 21, 2020) (Judge Gustafson) — § 6330(c)(2)(B))

Aug. 3: You Get What You Pay For (Dennis v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-98 (July 1, 2020) (Judge Panuthos) — § 7430)

Aug. 10: The Unwritten Advantage Of Small Case Procedure (Winslow v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2020-22 (Aug. 3, 2020) (Judge Colvin) — § 7463)

Aug. 17: §6662 Contains Multiple Penalties For §6751 Supervisory Approval (Oropeza and Oropeza, T.C. Memo. 2020-111 (July 21, 2020) (Judge Lauber) — § 6662 & § 6751)

Aug. 24: The Cost Of Inattention (Porporato v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2020-24 (Aug. 18, 2020) (Judge Panuthos) — § 6511)

Aug. 31: Audit Reconsideration Is Not CDP (Nguyen v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-97 (June 30, 2020) (Judge Pugh) — § 6320)

Sept. 8: Form Over Substance Gives Taxpayers A Double Tax Benefit (Dickinson v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-128 (Sept. 3, 2020) (Judge Greaves) — § 7701(o))

Sept. 14: Rejected e-Filed Return Starts The SOL On Assessment (Fowler v. Commissioner, 155 T.C. No. 7 (Sept. 9, 2020) (Judge Greaves) — § 6501(a))

Sept. 21: Receipts Are Not Enough (Armstrong v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2020-26 (Sept. 17, 2020) (Judge Panuthos) — § 67(g))

Sept. 28: State Law Matters (Deckard v. Commissioner, 155 T.C. No. 8 (Sept. 17, 2020) (Judge Thornton) — § 11(a))

Oct. 5: Why Vacation Home Losses Are Difficult To Deduct (Lucero v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-136 (Sept. 29, 2020) (Judge Pugh) — § 280A & § 469)

Oct. 12: The Slippery Slope Of Tax Court Review (Worthington v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-141 (Oct. 8, 2020) (Judge Gustafson) — § 7623)

Oct. 19: §6662 Penalties Treated As One For Supervisory Approval Requirement (Oropeza v. Commissioner, 155 T.C. No. 9 (Oct. 13, 2020) (Judge Lauber) — § 6662)

Oct. 26: Losing Gambler Gets Twice Lucky In Tax Court (Coleman v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-146 (Oct. 22, 2020) (Judge Lauber) — § 165)

Nov. 2: To Get Administrative Grace You Must Follow Administrative Rules (Giambrone v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-145 (Oct. 19, 2020) (Judge Lauber) — § 165)

Nov. 9: How To Beat The Bureaucracy (Leith v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-149 (Nov. 4, 2020) (Judge Vasquez) — § 6013 & § 6015)

Nov. 16: Taxpayer Wins CDP Case But Cannot Recover Costs (Dang v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-150 (Nov. 9, 2020) (Judge Marvel) — § 6751 & § 7605(b))

Nov. 23: International Pilot’s Tax Home Argument Does Not Fly (Cutting v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-158 (Nov. 19, 2020) (Judge Pugh) — § 911)

Nov. 30: The Right Way To Do Conservation Easements (Rajagopalan v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-159 (Nov. 19, 2020) (Judge Holmes) — § 170)

Dec. 7:  Taxpayers Behaving Badly (2020)

For prior 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)