Opinion
17923-19
03-17-2023
MASOUMEH GHAFFARI & MOHAMMED FARAHMAND, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
David Gustafson Judge
As we have previously ordered, this case will be tried in about seven weeks, at a session in Washington, D.C., beginning May 8, 2023. Our order issued on January 20, 2023 (Doc. 36)--i.e., about 2 months ago--resolved all the issues in this case except as to the issue
whether the Cigna premiums paid for February, March, and April 2018 (i.e., $5,625) should be treated as having been paid for [petitioners], since (they allege) they had taken appropriate steps to cancel the coverage and had thereby instructed the Marketplace to stop paying Cigna premiums. [Doc. 36 at 8.]We held "that there is ... a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether that $5,625 portion of the premiums, allegedly attributable to Marketplace error, should be deemed to have been paid on their behalf and for their benefit"; and we ordered that "[w]e will resolve by means of trial whether petitioners owe the Government for excess APTC in that amount (or any portion thereof)." [Doc. 36 at 8, 11.] We therefore set this case for trial at our trial session in Washington, D.C., commencing May 8, 2023. [Doc. 36 at 12.]
We also issued our standing pretrial order ("SPTO"; Doc. 37), which gave the parties instructions about preparing for trial, including the instruction to file pretrial memoranda by April 17, 2023, and the instruction to file their stipulation and proposed trial exhibits by April 24, 2023.
It is
ORDERED that, no later than April 7, 2023, the parties shall file a joint status report (or, if that is not expedient, then separate reports) advising the Court of their progress in pretrial preparation--especially the preparation of a joint stipulation of facts.