Opinion
16812-18
08-10-2023
PAUL C. ROBINSON, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Courtney D. Jones Judge
I. Trial
The Court tried this case on December 12 and 13, 2022 at the remote trial session for which Baltimore, Maryland was listed as the place of trial. At the conclusion of trial, the case was submitted and the Court ordered that the parties file simultaneous opening briefs by March 13, 2023 and answering briefs by April 12, 2023. See docket entry no. 45.
II. Post-Trial Settlement
On March 9, 2023, the parties filed a Joint Status Report with the Court. See docket entry no. 58. Therein, they reported that they "reached a basis for settlement of the remaining issues in this case on March 7, 2023." Accordingly, they represented that "[t]he parties no longer need to file briefs and request 30 days within which to file a decision document or a further status report." Mr. Robinson's signature was affixed to the Joint Status Report.
On March 15, 2023, in consideration of the parties' report of settlement and their representation that they no longer needed to file briefs, the Court issued an Order directing the parties to file a proposed stipulated decision or status report by April 14, 2023. See docket entry no. 59. The Order also vacated the Court's prior instruction regarding the filing of simultaneous briefs and provided, "the parties are no longer required to file simultaneous opening and answering briefs in this case."
On April 14, 2023, respondent filed a Status Report. See docket entry no. 60. Therein, respondent reported that on April 6, 2023, he forwarded to Mr. Robinson documents to complete the settlement of the case including, "a proposed decision document; computations of the tax deficiencies resulting from the adjustments the parties agreed to; and interest computations providing an estimate of the total amount of tax, penalties, and interest due from petitioner as of April 30, 2023."
Further, in his status report dated April 14, 2023, respondent indicated that he requested that Mr. Robinson sign the decision and return it or contact respondent's counsel with any questions or concerns. The status report further reported that Mr. Robinson had not responded to respondent's emails, returned the signed decision document, or contacted respondent's counsel. Respondent requested an additional thirty days to file a decision document or status report.
By Order dated April 20, 2023, see docket entry no. 61, the Court extended the deadline to file a proposed stipulated decision to May 15, 2023. Subsequently, on May 15, 2023, respondent filed a Status Report, docket entry no. 63, and the parties filed a Stipulation of Settled Issues, docket entry no. 64. In the Status Report dated May 15, 2023, respondent reported that the parties are in agreement as to the deficiencies due from Mr. Robinson for all of the years at issue, but that Mr. Robinson does not agree to the penalties as adjusted based on those deficiencies. See docket entry no. 63.
In their Stipulation of Settled Issues, see docket entry no. 64, the parties stipulate that there are deficiencies in income tax due from Mr. Robinson as follows:
Year
Deficiency
2014
$15,044
2015
7,989
2016
19,417
The parties further stated that the Stipulation of Settled Issues resolves only the deficiencies and does not resolve the penalties. The parties asked the Court to order briefs limited to the issue of penalties.
III. Parties' Request for Briefing (Penalties)
Pursuant to the request of the parties, the Court ordered the filing of simultaneous briefs on only the issue of the penalties. See docket entry no. 65. The Court instructed the parties to file opening briefs on or before July 21, 2023 and to file answering briefs on or before August 21, 2023. The Court received respondent's opening brief on July 20, 2023. See docket entry no. 66. To date, the Court has not received an opening brief from petitioner; nor has the Court received a motion for extension of time from petitioner.
Rule 151 of the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedures provide:
A party who is required to file an opening brief but fails to do so is not permitted to file an answering or reply brief unless the Court grants leave. A motion for extension of time for filing any brief must
be made before the due date and must recite that the moving party has advised each other party and state whether there is an objection to the motion.
The Court will serve petitioner with respondent's opening brief. But because petitioner has failed to file an opening brief or a motion for extension of time by the due date of the opening brief, we find that petitioner has waived his opportunity to file a brief on the issue of penalties. Accordingly, the Court will consider only the record and respondent's brief in its deliberations about the penalties. The parties are no longer required to file answering briefs.
Rule 151(c)(2) provides, "Simultaneous briefs will be served by the Clerk after each corresponding brief of all other parties has been filed, unless the Court orders otherwise." Because petitioner did not file an opening brief, respondent's brief has not yet been served.
In light of the foregoing, it is
ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall serve upon petitioner a copy of respondent's simultaneous opening brief (docket entry no. 66).