Opinion
14915-22S
09-20-2023
JEFFREY BRENT HASTON & KRISTAL LAUREN HASTON, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER AND DECISION
David Gustafson Judge
This case was commenced in July 2022 when Jeffrey Brent Haston and Kristal Lauren Haston filed their petition. The case was set for trial at the Court's Columbia, South Carolina, trial session beginning October 23, 2023. However, on July 7, 2023, the Commissioner filed a motion (Doc. 10) to dismiss this case for lack of prosecution. The Commissioner's motion alleges that petitioners Jeffery Brent Haston and Kristal Lauren Haston have not provided documents or records to support their claims, and that they have been unresponsive to the Commissioner's requests for information and multiple attempts to communicate. In the motion, the Commissioner moves the Court to enter a decision in the amount of the deficiency that the IRS originally determined for 2019.
On July 18, 2023, the Court conducted a conference call with the parties to discuss the status of the case. Petitioner Jeffery Brent Haston stated that he would provide Respondent with requested documentation. (Respondent recently alleged that he has not done so. See Doc. 13.) On August 22, 2023, having received no further filing, we issued an order (Doc. 12), requiring-- that, unless the parties have filed a proposed stipulated decision settling this case by September 8, 2023, then by that date petitioners Jeffery Brent Haston and Kristal Lauren Haston shall file a response to the Commissioner's motion to dismiss for lack of prosecution. Failure to comply with this order may result in the granting of the Commissioner's motion and in the entry of a decision against petitioners in the amount sought by the Commissioner. Petitioners' response should correct any factual errors in the IRS's motion and, more important, should describe petitioners' current compliance with our pretrial order and their cooperation with their opponent in preparing this case for trial....
No proposed stipulated decision has been filed, but petitioners have not filed the response that we ordered.
In view of petitioners' noncompliance with our order of August 22, 2023 (Doc. 12), and in view of their nonresponse to the Commissioner's motion (Doc. 10) and its allegations, we will grant the Commissioner's motion. This case will therefore be dismissed, and this case will not be called at the trial session beginning October 23, 2023.
(If petitioners wish to request reconsideration of this order, they may do so at the trial session. By so stating, we do not suggest that such a motion would be granted, but we would consider it. If petitioners wish to make such a motion, then they may appear in Columbia on October 23, 2023. To do so, they should arrive well before 10:00 a.m. that day, should advise the Commissioner's attorney of their presence and their intention, and should before 10:00 a.m. advise the trial clerk (who will be seated at the front of the courtroom) that they want their case to be called. If we were to grant reconsideration, then the case would proceed promptly to trial, and petitioners would need to be ready to put on their evidence.)
To give effect to the foregoing, it is
ORDERED that the Commissioner's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Prosecution (Doc. 10) is granted, for the reasons stated in that motion, in this order, and in our previous order (Doc. 12). It is further
ORDERED AND DECIDED that, as is set forth in the statutory notice of deficiency dated June 27, 2022, there is due from petitioner for the taxable year 2019 a deficiency in income tax in the amount of $5,021, and an accuracy related penalty under section 6662(a) in the amount of $1,004.20.