Opinion
10628-22W
08-03-2022
GRANT F. SMITH, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Kathleen Kerrigan, Chief Judge.
By opinion issued January 11, 2022, in the case of Li v. Commissioner, 22 F.4th 1014 (D.C. Cir. Jan. 11, 2022), the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (to which all whistleblower cases under I.R.C. section 7623 are appealable pursuant to I.R.C. section 7482(b)(1)) held that the Tax Court lacks jurisdiction of whistleblower cases involving threshold rejections of claims for whistleblower award where no judicial or administrative proceeding was commenced based on the whistleblower's information. That ruling is now final. More recently, the court of appeals has been asked to consider whether this Court also lacks jurisdiction in cases involving denials of claims for whistleblower award, such as this one, where no proceeds have been collected based on the whistleblower's information. See Kennedy v. Commissioner, No. 21-1133 (D.C. Cir.).
Upon due consideration of the foregoing, it is
ORDERED that the proceedings in this case are stayed. It is further
ORDERED that all pending motions will be held in abeyance. It is further
ORDERED that, although these proceedings are stayed, on or before December 2, 2022, the parties shall file status reports (preferably a joint report) concerning the then-current status of this case and the above-referenced case of Kennedy v. Commissioner.