Opinion
21457-18
02-17-2023
KEVIN SMITH & KATHLEEN SMITH, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Mark V. Holmes Judge
This case is on the Court's March 6, 2023 trial calendar for Dallas, Texas. On February 2, 2023 the parties moved for a fifth continuance. We spoke with them today to gauge progress. It turns out that the parties have not even completed informal discovery, in a case where the key issues are largely of substantiation. Petitioner Kathleen Smith has assembled four or five boxes of 2013 and 2014 records from her law office and a real-estate investment that are the sources of this dispute. These have not yet been produced to respondent, but the parties have at least orally discussed the records respondent's interested in.
The parties are cooperating but it is reasonable to begin imposing some deadlines to get the case moving. It is therefore
ORDERED that the parties' February 2, 2023 motion for a continuance is granted in that this case is stricken from the Court's March 6, 2023 trial calendar for Dallas, Texas. It is also
ORDERED that this division of the Court retains jurisdiction. It is also
ORDERED that on or before May 16, 2023 petitioner Kathleen Smith shall produce to respondent the records she has assembled, together with a memorandum describing her contentions about how they rebut respondent's determination in the notice of deficiency. It is also
ORDERED that on or before May 30, 2023 petitioner Kathleen Smith and respondent shall file a status report describing their progress in completing informal discovery, their expectations of the need for formal discovery, and their estimates of the probability of settlement instead of trial.