Opinion
545-20
01-25-2022
Belinda G. Austin Petitioner v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Respondent
ORDER
DAVID GUSTAFSON JUDGE
This case, brought under section 6015(e), was scheduled to be tried at a regular, in-person session of the Tax Court in Winston-Salem beginning February 7, 2022. Because of the recent surge of infections in the coronavirus pandemic, the trial session in Winston-Salem is being converted to a remote proceeding via zoomgov. Anticipating that possible development, we held a telephone conference with the parties on January 21, 2022. During that conference we learned that the parties expect to offer into evidence several thousand pages of exhibits. Petitioner, who represents herself, expressed understandable doubt as to whether she would be able to effectively present her documentary evidence in the remote context. She stated that, if the upcoming trial session were converted to remote, then she would prefer that this case be continued, to be tried at a later in-person trial session. Counsel stated that the Commissioner did not object to a continuance but would prefer a trial in Spring 2022. We indicated that we could not predict the timing of a later trial session.
At the conference we also discussed with the parties the questions that we raised in our order of January 20, 2022 (Doc. 25), and counsel indicated that she is not yet able to state the Commissioner's position on several of those issues. The parties advised the Court that, after the petition in this case was filed with the Tax Court, the IRS's Office of Appeals continued its consideration of petitioner's request for relief. It is therefore
ORDERED that this case is continued, in that it is stricken from the calendar of the trial session beginning February 7, 2022, in Winston Salem; the case will not be called at that session; and the parties need not appear in that session. It is further
ORDERED that the judge signing this order retains jurisdiction over this case. It is further
ORDERED that our order of January 20, 2022 (Doc. 25), is hereby vacated to the extent it requires filings on January 31, 2022. The parties can address those questions in due course. However, in order to take advantage of the parties' recent work on the case, and so as not to lose the value of that work, we will order below further filings to be made in the near future. (If the dates that we set are impractical, then the parties may move to extend them.) It is further
ORDERED that, no later than February 25, 2022, the parties shall file jointly a first stipulation of facts that is as comprehensive as they are able to agree on by that time. The stipulation should state whether or not the parties have come to agreement about (a) whether, in this case, section 6015(e)(7) applies, and (b) whether the Tax Court may properly review the determination by IRS Appeals that was made after the filing of the petition in this case. If possible, that stipulation should include the pertinent "administrative record", sec. 6015(e)(7)(A), and should reflect any agreement the parties have reached as to whether the non-record exhibits constitute "newly discovered or previously unavailable evidence", sec. 6015(e)(7)(B). It is further
ORDERED that, no later than February 25, 2022, each party shall file unilaterally as "Proposed Trial Exhibits" any non-stipulated exhibits that the party expects to rely on at trial. We expect to conduct the trial in this case not remotely but rather as an in-person proceeding, but the parties shall nonetheless take notice of the Court's instructions in "Documentary Evidence for Remote Proceedings" (Aug. 6, 2020), which are accessible at-- https://ustaxcourt.gov/resources/covid/documentary_evidence.pdf
Even if those exhibits are later presented in "hard copy" at an in-person trial, it will be useful to the Court and the parties to have pretrial access to digital copies. It is further
ORDERED that, after they have made the filings described above and no later than March 4, 2022, the parties shall telephone the Chambers Administrator (at 202-521-0850) in order to schedule a telephone conference at which the Court can discuss with the parties a schedule for further proceedings in this case.