From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Stockhausen v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue

United States Tax Court
Aug 17, 2022
No. 29716-21 (U.S.T.C. Aug. 17, 2022)

Opinion

29716-21

08-17-2022

MARK D. STOCKHAUSEN & KELLY E. STOCKHAUSEN, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent


ORDER

David Gustafson Judge

Petitioner Mark D. Stockhausen has made a filing (Doc. 14) with a cover page entitled "Motion for Summary Judgment" (Doc. 14). We will deny the motion, but we encourage the parties to attempt an agreed resolution of this case, which it seems may be entirely possible.

Attached to the petition (Doc. 1) is a statutory notice of deficiency dated August 2, 2021, which the Internal Revenue Service issued to petitioners for the year 2018, showing that the IRS had determined a "deficiency" of $909 in petitioners' income tax for that year. Stated simply, a "deficiency" is an amount of tax that a taxpayer owes which is greater than the amount he reported on his tax return. (See sec. 6211.) The taxpayer is allowed to challenge the IRS's determination by filing a petition in the Tax Court (as the Stockhausens have done); and when the taxpayer does so, the IRS is barred by section 6213(a) from assessing the deficiency until the Tax Court has made a "decision" as to that liability. In a Tax Court deficiency case like one, the issue is not whether the tax has been paid but rather whether the IRS will be permitted to assess the tax. Unless the IRS can assess the tax, it cannot keep the money.

Mr. Stockhausen's motion demonstrates that he has paid $906. The Commissioner, in his answer (Doc. 6), admitted that "petitioners sent a $906.00 check to the Internal Revenue Service ('IRS')" and stated "that petitioners' $906.00 check was received by the IRS as an advanced payment of tax". However, the question of how much tax has been paid is not really the issue here. Rather, the issue is how much tax was reported on a return, compared to the tax actually owed. In their petition, the Stockhausens seem to admit that there was an error on their return, which they have undertaken to remedy by paying the tax. We commend such behavior. However, if the Stockhausens did under-report their liability by $906, then there was a deficiency in that amount, and that deficiency now needs to be assessed; and if that is true, then the Tax Court needs to enter a decision sustaining the deficiency. (Thereafter, any payment that the Stockhausens have made would be credited against that liability.)

At present, we do not have before us sufficient information to enter decision in this case. If the parties are able to agree on the resolution, then they will present to us a proposed stipulated decision that we would presumably enter. If they are unable to agree, then we will presumably have a trial at which they will put on evidence including the tax return that the Stockhausens filed. It is therefore

ORDERED that the motion for summary judgment is denied, and that this case will proceed to trial unless the parties are able to agree on a basis of settlement (which we hope that they will be able to do).


Summaries of

Stockhausen v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue

United States Tax Court
Aug 17, 2022
No. 29716-21 (U.S.T.C. Aug. 17, 2022)
Case details for

Stockhausen v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue

Case Details

Full title:MARK D. STOCKHAUSEN & KELLY E. STOCKHAUSEN, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF…

Court:United States Tax Court

Date published: Aug 17, 2022

Citations

No. 29716-21 (U.S.T.C. Aug. 17, 2022)