From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Herbst v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue

United States Tax Court
Aug 3, 2022
No. 23349-12 (U.S.T.C. Aug. 3, 2022)

Opinion

23349-12

08-03-2022

TIMOTHY HERBST, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent


ORDER

Mark V. Holmes, Judge

This case was continued from the Court's September 22, 2014 trial calendar for Phoenix, Arizona. The long delay is due to a pending criminal investigation in Costa Rica. Petitioner -- an American living in Costa Rica - allegedly had a faithless assistant who embezzled a very great deal of his wealth. This has led to a criminal investigation and, more importantly for resolution of this case, the possession of his business records relevant to this case by the assistant and Costa Rican authorities.

All agreed to put this case on a long-term status-report track. But it is now entering its second decade without the completion of even informal discovery. We spoke with the parties on May 16, 2022 and learned that it is entirely possible that the Costa Rican courts will grant yet another continuance when the criminal case is supposed to be ready next month. If that occurred, we explained, we might have to treat the records as irretrievable and try to figure out a way to proceed by less direct proofs.

We spoke with the parties again on August 2, 2022 only to learn that the criminal case in Costa Rica has again been postponed. Any further delay in the resolution of this case is, at this point, unreasonable. We understand that written records may be beyond the reach of any party to retrieve and produce; and it may be that petitioner wants to pursue a theft-loss deduction in addition to, or in lieu of, whatever substantiation of schedule C expenses he wishes. But it is at long last time for some deadlines. It is

ORDERED that on or before August 16, 2022 respondent shall send to petitioner any informal discovery requests. It is also

ORDERED that on or before September 27, 2022 petitioner shall respond to any of respondent's informal-discovery requests.

The parties may expect another teleconference in October to discuss scheduling a remote trial.


Summaries of

Herbst v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue

United States Tax Court
Aug 3, 2022
No. 23349-12 (U.S.T.C. Aug. 3, 2022)
Case details for

Herbst v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue

Case Details

Full title:TIMOTHY HERBST, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent

Court:United States Tax Court

Date published: Aug 3, 2022

Citations

No. 23349-12 (U.S.T.C. Aug. 3, 2022)