Opinion
15619-21
08-15-2024
MICHAEL FEA & TANYA FEA, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
JAMES S. HALPERN JUDGE.
This matter is presently before the Court on respondent's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Motion). Petitioners object to our granting the Motion. At issue is whether petitioners have met the substantiation requirements for a claimed deduction of a charitable contribution of a property.
Respondent askes that we summarily determine that (1) petitioners failed to obtain a qualified appraisal of the property by a qualified appraiser, (2) they failed to produce a valid contemporaneous written acknowledgement of the contribution, and (3) their form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions, is deficient. Petitioners counter that the facts show that (1) the documents they provided constitute a contemporaneous written acknowledgment, (2) they relied on the advice of their accountant after disclosing the necessary facts to him, which allows them to rely on the assessed-for-tax value of the contributed property as a qualified appraisal, and (3) the doctrine of substantial compliance excuses the technical defects in information they provided to respondent.
Summary judgment is appropriate only if there are no genuine disputes as to any material fact and a decision may be rendered as a matter of law. See Rule 121(b), Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure. Petitioners have raised a genuine dispute as to material facts. For that reason, it is
ORDERED that the Motion is denied.