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66-505: The United States Tax Court (in case citations , T.C. ) is a federal trial court of record established by Congress under Article I of the U.S. Constitution , section 8 of which provides (in part) that the Congress has the power to "constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court". The Tax Court specializes in adjudicating disputes over federal income tax , generally prior to the time at which formal tax assessments are made by

132-535: A serial number . Citations to these reporters use the serial number in place of a page number. If a decision has not been published in a reporter, more identifying information is needed. Generally, citations to unreported cases involve the name of the court , the date of the decision and the case number assigned by the court. For example: Sø- og Handelsrettens dom af 3. maj 2018 i sag nr. V-17-17 (The Maritime and Commercial Court 's judgment of May 3 in case no. V-17-17). Certain authors format these citations to mimic

198-530: A design that was approved in 1966. However, funding constraints brought on by the Vietnam War delayed the start of construction until 1972. The Tax Court was again renamed to its current formal designation in the Tax Reform Act of 1969 , changing it from an historically administrative court to a full judicial court. The completed United States Tax Court Building was dedicated on November 22, 1974,

264-453: A first in/first out basis) after the case becomes at issue. When a case is calendared, the parties are notified by the Court of the date, time, and place of trial. Trials are conducted before one judge, without a jury, and taxpayers are permitted to represent themselves if they desire. However, the vast majority of cases are settled by mutual agreement without the necessity of a trial. However, if

330-537: A number of "special trial judges", who are employees of the court, appointed by the chief judge of the Tax Court, rather than by the President. Special trial judges serve a function similar to that served by United States magistrate judges of the district courts , and may hear cases regarding alleged deficiencies or overpayments of up to $ 50,000. Reappointment, when requested by a Tax Court judge (I.R.C. 7447(b)(3))

396-468: A timely manner. The rule in the Tax Court is that the taxpayer sues the "Commissioner of Internal Revenue," with the taxpayer as "petitioner" and the Commissioner as "respondent." This rule is an example of an exception to the general rule that the proper party defendant in a tax case filed by a taxpayer against the federal government is "United States of America". In the Tax Court, the Commissioner

462-435: A trial is conducted, in due course a report is ordinarily issued by the presiding judge setting forth findings of fact and an opinion. The case is then closed in accordance with the judge's opinion by entry of a decision. Either the petitioner (the taxpayer) or the respondent (the Commissioner of Internal Revenue) may take an appeal from an adverse decision of the Tax Court to the appropriate United States Court of Appeals . In

528-477: A year (sometimes more than two years) to be reappointed during the Clinton presidency. Trial sessions are conducted and other work of the Court is performed by its judges, by senior judges serving on recall, and by special trial judges. All of the judges have expertise in the tax laws, and are tasked to "apply that expertise in a manner to ensure that taxpayers are assessed only what they owe, and no more". Although

594-580: Is a "reference to a legal precedent or authority, such as a case, statute, or treatise, that either substantiates or contradicts a given position." Where cases are published on paper, the citation usually contains the following information: In some report series, for example in England, Australia and some in Canada, volumes are not numbered independently of the year: thus the year and volume number (usually no greater than 4) are required to identify which book of

660-466: Is available "at the option of the taxpayer." These cases are neither appealable nor precedential. At times there have been efforts in Congress and the Tax Bar to create a single national Court of Appeals for tax cases (or make Tax Court decisions appealable to a single existing Court of Appeals), to maintain uniformity in the application of the nation's tax laws (the very reason underlying the creation of

726-465: Is effective retroactively to the date of the assessment, and encumbers all property and rights to property of the taxpayer. Because of the negative legal consequences ensuing with respect to a statutory assessment (especially the tax lien and the Flora requirement that the taxpayer otherwise pay the full disputed amount and sue for refund), a taxpayer is often well advised to file a Tax Court petition in

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792-528: Is generally pro forma regardless of the political party of the appointing President and the political party of the re-appointing (sitting) President. Each active judge appointed by the President has two law clerks (attorney-advisers) and each senior judge and special trial judge has one law clerk. President George W. Bush was heavily criticized by the U.S. Congress, the Tax Bar, and others when he indicated that he likely would not, or might not, re-appoint Tax Court judges whose terms were expiring (even though

858-588: Is italicized as in all other countries and the party names are separated by v (English) or c (French). Prior to 1984 the appellant party would always be named first. However, since then case names do not switch order when the case is appealed. Undisclosed parties to a case are represented by initials (e.g., R v RDS ). Criminal cases are prosecuted by the Crown, which is always represented by R for Regina (queen) or Rex (king). Reference questions (advisory opinions) are always entitled Reference re followed by

924-471: Is not named personally. The " Secretary of the Treasury ", the " Department of the Treasury " and the " Internal Revenue Service " are not proper parties. The petition must be timely filed within the allowable time. The Court cannot extend the time for filing, which is set by statute. A $ 60 filing fee must be paid when the petition is filed. Once the petition is filed, payment of the underlying tax ordinarily

990-479: Is now [2005] 1 SCR 791. Most full stops are also removed from styles of cause. The seventh edition also further highlights the significance of neutral citations (i.e., tribunal-assigned citations that are publisher-independent). In 1999 the Canadian Judicial Council adopted a neutral citation standard for case law. The format provides a naming system that does not depend on the publication of

1056-458: Is postponed until the case has been decided. In certain tax disputes involving $ 50,000 or less, taxpayers may elect to have the case conducted under the Court's simplified small tax case procedure. Trials in small tax cases generally are less formal and result in a speedier disposition. However, decisions entered pursuant to small tax case procedures are not appealable and are not precedential. Cases are calendared for trial as soon as practicable (on

1122-687: Is the citation by using the European Case Law Identifier , a ″neutral″ citation system introduced by the Council of the European Union in 2011, which Germany is participating in. The most important cases of the Federal Constitutional Court are published by the court in its official collection. This collection is abbreviated BVerfGE , whereas BVerfG is short for Bundesverfassungsgericht ,

1188-438: The U.S. Senate , for a five-year term. Daniel Werfel is the current Commissioner of Internal Revenue, having been sworn in on March 13, 2023. Werfel is the 50th Commissioner to serve in the position since it was created. The Commissioner's duties include administering, managing, conducting, directing, and supervising "the execution and application of the internal revenue laws or related statutes and tax conventions to which

1254-701: The Federal Social Court ( Bundessozialgericht , BSG) is abbreviated BSGE  [ de ] . The official collection of the Federal Fiscal Court ( Bundesfinanzhof , BFH) is BFHE  [ de ] . Commissioner of Internal Revenue The Commissioner of Internal Revenue is the head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an agency within the United States Department of

1320-521: The Free Access to Law Movement . The resulting flood of non-paginated information has led to numbering of paragraphs and the adoption of a medium-neutral citation system. This usually contains the following information: Rather than utilizing page numbers for pinpoint references, which would depend upon particular printers and browsers , pinpoint quotations refer to paragraph numbers. In common law countries with an adversarial system of justice,

1386-521: The Internal Revenue Service . Though taxpayers may choose to litigate tax matters in a variety of legal settings, outside of bankruptcy , the Tax Court is the only forum in which taxpayers may do so without having first paid the disputed tax in full. Parties who contest the imposition of a tax may also bring an action in any United States District Court , or in the United States Court of Federal Claims ; however, these venues require that

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1452-550: The United States , there is no consensus on the pronunciation of the abbreviation v. This has led to much confusion about the pronunciation and spelling of court cases: During oral arguments in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), the participants demonstrated the lack of consensus on the pronunciation of " v. ", using different pronunciations. Solicitor General Ken Starr even managed to use all three of

1518-745: The "principal office" of the Court is located in the District of Columbia , Tax Court judges may sit "at any place within the United States". The judges travel nationwide to conduct trials in various designated cities. The work of the Tax Court has occasionally been interrupted by events. In 2001, a trial session in New York City was canceled due to the September 11 terrorist attacks . In 2005, stops in Miami and New Orleans were canceled due to

1584-566: The "short citation" of published cases. The Danish Court Administration is currently working on a public database which will make all judgments available to the public (currently only the Supreme Court as well as the Maritime and Commercial Court do this). The database is expected to implement the European Case Law Identifier , which will make uniform, neutral citations of decisions possible. In Germany there are two types of citation:

1650-524: The Board of Tax Appeals was not a "court," but was instead "an executive or administrative board, upon the decision of which the parties are given an opportunity to base a petition for review to the courts after the administrative inquiry of the Board has been had and decided." In 1942, Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1942 , renaming the Board as the "Tax Court of the United States". With this change,

1716-508: The Board were simply designated as "members." The members of the Board were empowered to select, on a biennial basis, one of their members as "chairman." In July 1924, President Calvin Coolidge announced the appointment of the first twelve appointees, of which seven were appointed from private life and five from the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Additional members were appointed in the fall, and

1782-676: The Board when fully constituted originally had 16 members, with Charles D. Hamel serving as the first Chairman. The Board was initially established as an "independent agency in the executive branch of the government." It was housed in the Internal Revenue Service Building in the Federal Triangle . The first session of the Board of Tax Appeals spanned July 16, 1924 to May 31, 1925. In 1929, the United States Supreme Court ruled that

1848-537: The Court of Federal Claims, and the Bankruptcy Court. In the first two instances, the taxpayer bringing the claim generally must have first paid the deficiency determined by the IRS. For the Bankruptcy Court, the tax matter must arise as an issue in a bankruptcy proceeding. Bankruptcy Court appeals are initially to the U.S. District Court. Appeals beyond the U.S. District Courts and the Court of Federal Claims follow

1914-424: The Court. Attorneys who provide evidence of membership and good standing in a state bar or the D.C. bar can be admitted to the bar of the Court without sitting for the Tax Court examination. Tax Court practice is highly specialized and most practitioners are licensed attorneys who specialize in tax controversies. Many Tax Court cases involve disputes over federal income tax and penalties, often after an examination by

1980-513: The German article . If decisions are not yet published by the court, or will not be published at all, law journals can be cited, e.g., Where NJW stands for the law journal Neue Juristische Wochenschrift , 2009 is the year, 1234 the page of the beginning and 1235 the cited page(s) – "f." stands for "seq.". In general, citations of the official collections are preferred. The Federal Court of Justice ( Bundesgerichtshof , short BGH) publishes

2046-509: The German court name, and E stands for Entscheidung (decision). Starting in 2004, the court also publishes the BVerfGK collection, containing decisions made only by a Kammer , a specific panel of the court. The so-called Volkszählungsurteil  [ de ] for example could be cited in full and in short. For the meaning of the different case numbers of the BVerfG see

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2112-497: The Internal Revenue Service of a taxpayer's return. After issuance of a series of preliminary written notices and a lack of agreement between the taxpayer and the IRS, the IRS formally "determines" the amount of the "deficiency" and issues a formal notice called a "statutory notice of deficiency," or "ninety day letter". In this context, the term "deficiency" is a legal term of art, and is not necessarily equal to

2178-818: The Members became Judges and the Chairman became the Presiding Judge. By 1956, overcrowding and the desire to separate judicial and executive powers led to initial attempts to relocate the court. In 1962, Secretary of the Treasury Douglas Dillon appealed to the General Services Administration (GSA) to incorporate funds for the design of a new building in its upcoming budget. The GSA allocated $ 450,000, and commissioned renowned architect Victor A. Lundy , who produced

2244-458: The President, or for that matter, Article III district courts. The President, however, may remove Tax Court judges, after notice and opportunity for public hearing, for "inefficiency," "neglect of duty," or "malfeasance in office." Justice Scalia penned a separate concurrence for four justices in Freytag . These justices dissented as to the Court majority's rationale; they would have characterized

2310-616: The Tax Court and the grant of national jurisdiction to the Tax Court), but efforts to avoid "hometown results" or inconsistent results due to a lack of expertise have failed. An important reason for the movements to create a single national Court of Appeals for tax cases is that the United States Tax Court does not have exclusive jurisdiction over tax cases. In addition to the Tax Court, federal tax matters can be heard and decided in three other courts: U.S. District Courts,

2376-508: The Tax Court's power as "executive" rather than "judicial." Scalia said that to him "it seem[ed]... entirely obvious that the Tax Court, like the Internal Revenue Service, the FCC, and the NLRB, exercises executive power." Notwithstanding Scalia's sharp dissents in landmark separation-of-powers cases such as Mistretta v. United States and Morrison v. Olson , Scalia apparently "describe[d] Freytag as

2442-528: The Treasury . The office of Commissioner was created by Congress as part of the Revenue Act of 1862 . Section 7803 of the Internal Revenue Code provides for the appointment of a Commissioner of Internal Revenue to administer and supervise the execution and application of the internal revenue laws. The Commissioner is appointed by the President of the United States , with the consent of

2508-620: The U.S. Tax Court "is not an agency of, and shall be independent of, the executive branch of the Government." However, section 7443(f) of the Code still provides that a Tax Court judge may be removed by the President "for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office". The Tax Court provides a judicial forum in which affected persons can dispute tax deficiencies determined by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue prior to payment of

2574-601: The United States is a party" and advising the President on the appointment and removal of a Chief Counsel of the IRS. Treasury Order 150-10 states in relevant part: "The Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall be responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Internal Revenue laws." The Commissioner reports to the Secretary of the Treasury through the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury . One of

2640-403: The amount of unpaid tax (although it usually is). The deficiency is generally the excess of the amount the IRS contends is the correct tax over the amount the taxpayer showed on the return—in both cases, without regard to how much has actually been paid. Upon issuance of the statutory notice of deficiency (after IRS determination of the tax amount, but before the formal IRS assessment of the tax),

2706-415: The case in a law report. The standard format looks like this: There is a unique court identifier code for most courts. Denmark has no official standard or style guide governing case citation. However, most case citations include the same elements. Citations of decisions published in a reporter usually consist of the name or abbreviation of the reporter , the year or volume , the page number where

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2772-418: The case of an appeal by the taxpayer, a bond is normally required in order to avoid enforcement action during the pendency of the appeal. Instead of taking an appeal, the Internal Revenue Service may issue an "Action on Decision" indicating the Commissioner's "non-acquiescence" in the decision, meaning that the Commissioner will not follow the decision in subsequent cases. In such cases, the Commissioner hopes for

2838-483: The decision begin (sometimes followed by an identifying number if more than one judgment is on a page), as well as the name or abbreviation of the court which decided the case . As an example, the "Aalborg Kloster-judgment", a precedent-setting Supreme Court judgment regarding strict liability , is published in Ugeskrift for Retsvæsen volume 1968 as the second judgment on page 84. A citation of this case could take

2904-765: The disputed amounts. The jurisdiction of the Tax Court includes, but is not limited to the authority to hear: Congress amended the Internal Revenue Code, now codified in Internal Revenue Code section 7482, providing that decisions of the Tax Court may be reviewed by the applicable geographical United States Court of Appeals other than the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. (See Article I and Article III tribunals ). "Small Tax Cases" are conducted under Internal Revenue Code section 7463, and generally involve amounts in controversy of $ 50,000 or less for any one tax year. The "Small Tax Case" procedure

2970-501: The effects of hurricanes which had struck shortly before their scheduled visit to each city. The Tax Court's judges serve 15-year terms, subject to presidential removal during the term for "[I]nefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office." The mandatory retirement age for judges is 70. The judges' salaries are set at the same rate as "[J]udges of the district courts of the United States", currently $ 243,300 annually. As of November 14, 2024: As of July 29, 2024,

3036-495: The fiftieth anniversary of the Revenue Act that created the court. In 1991, the U.S. Supreme Court in Freytag v. Commissioner stated that the current United States Tax Court is an "Article I legislative court" that "exercises a portion of the judicial power of the United States." The Court explained the Tax Court "exercises judicial power to the exclusion of any other function" and that it "exercises its judicial power in much

3102-414: The first judge whose re-appointment President Bush called into question, Judge John O. Colvin, was appointed by President Ronald Reagan ). President Bill Clinton also was criticized for not acting timely to re-appoint Tax Court judges, having allowed one sitting Chief Judge's term to expire, thus requiring the Tax Court to elect a new Chief Judge. Additionally, several Tax Court judges had to wait more than

3168-509: The form U.1968.84/2H , UfR 1968 84/2 H , Ugeskrift for Retsvæsen 1968, p. 84/2 , or something similar. In this case U , UfR and Ugeskrift for Retsvæsen identify the reporter, 1968 identifies the year or volume, 84 identifies the starting page, /2 indicates that the judgment is the second one on that particular page, and H identifies the court which decided the case. Certain reporters, such as Tidsskrift for Skatter og Afgifter, do not identify published decisions by page number, but by

3234-419: The full citation of a case and its shortened form. In e.g. scientific articles, the full citation of a particular case is only used at its first occurrence; after that, its shortened form is used. In most law journals, the articles themselves only use the shortened form; the full citations for all articles sometimes are summarized at the beginning of that journals edition. A third type (yet not too widely spread)

3300-546: The late 1990s, however, much of the legal community has converged to a single standard—formulated in The Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation / Manuel canadien de la référence juridique , commonly known as the " McGill Guide " after the McGill Law Journal , which first published it. The following format reflects this standard: Broken into its component parts, the format is: The Style of Cause

3366-1020: The methods of citation used in England . A widely used guide to Australian legal citation is the Australian Guide to Legal Citation , commonly known as AGLC, published jointly by the Melbourne University Law Review and the Melbourne Journal of International Law . The standard case citation format in Australia is: As in Canada , there has been divergence among citation styles. There exist commercial citation guides published by Butterworths and other legal publishing companies, academic citation styles and court citation styles. Each court in Australia may cite

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3432-518: The most common American pronunciations interchangeably: This is the process of analysis that is quite familiar to the Court, very lengthily laid out by Justice Harlan in his dissent in Poe versus Ullman, and then adumbrated in his concurring opinion in Griswold against Connecticut. ... Well, I think that that is the necessary consequence of Roe vee Wade. Legal citation in Australia generally mirrors

3498-531: The names of the opposing parties are separated in the case title by the abbreviation v (usually written as v in Commonwealth countries and usually as v. in the U.S. ) of the Latin word versus , which means against . When case titles are read out loud, the v can be pronounced, depending on the context, as and , against , versus , or vee . Most Commonwealth countries follow English legal style: In

3564-406: The official collections BGHSt  [ de ] for its criminal law decisions and BGHZ  [ de ] for those in private law . The Katzenkönigfall  [ de ] e.g. would be cited in full and in short (in this example, the page cited is not specifically page 347 but that and those which follow, as indicated by the abbreviation "ff."). The official collection of

3630-459: The opportunity to litigate the matter in another circuit where he will have a better chance of obtaining reversal on appeal. The Tax Court is composed of 19 judges appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate . Former judges whose terms have ended may become "senior judges", able to return and assist the court by hearing cases while serving on recall. In addition, the court is assisted by

3696-562: The print citation. For example, This format was adopted as the standard in 2006, in the sixth edition of the McGill Guide. Prior to this format, the opposite order of parallel citation was used. The seventh edition of the McGill Guide, published 2010-08-20, removes most full stop/period (".") characters from the citations, e.g., a citation to the Supreme Court Reports that previously would have been [2005] 1 S.C.R. 791,

3762-504: The publication of the case in a law report. Most cases are now published on AustLII using neutral citations. The standard format looks like this: So the above-mentioned Mabo case would then be cited like this: Mabo v Queensland (No 2) [1992] HCA 23. There is a unique court identifier code for most courts. The court and tribunal identifiers include: There are a number of citation standards in Canada. Many legal publishing companies and schools have their own standard for citation. Since

3828-501: The same case slightly differently. There is presently a movement in convergence to the comprehensive academic citation style of the Australian Guide to Legal Citation published jointly by the Melbourne University Law Review and the Melbourne Journal of International Law . Australian courts and tribunals have now adopted a neutral citation standard for case law. The format provides a naming system that does not depend on

3894-548: The same path as those from the U.S. Tax Court as described above. With this number of courts involved in making legal determinations on federal tax matters, some observers express concern that the tax laws can be interpreted differently for like cases. The Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service or his delegate represents the executive branch in the Tax Court. The Tax Court permits persons who are not attorneys to be admitted to practice (to represent taxpayers) by applying for admission and passing an examination administered by

3960-526: The same way as the federal district courts exercise theirs." This "exclusively judicial role distinguishes it from other non-Article III tribunals that perform multiple functions." Thus, Freytag concluded that the Tax Court exercises "judicial, rather than executive, legislative, or administrative, power." The Tax Court "remains independent of the Executive and Legislative Branches" in the sense that its decisions are not subject to appellate review by Congress,

4026-646: The series has the case reported within its covers. In such citations, it is usual in these jurisdictions to apply square brackets "[year]" to the publication year (which may not be the year that the case was decided: for example, a case decided in December 2001 may have been reported in 2002). The Internet brought with it the opportunity for courts to publish their decisions on websites and most published court decisions now appear in that way. They can be found through many national and other websites, such as WorldLII and AfricanLII , that are operated by members of

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4092-499: The single worst opinion of his incumbency" on the U.S. Supreme Court. Although the 2008 U.S. government directory of executive and legislative appointed officers ("the Plum Book") categorized the Tax Court as part of the legislative branch, the 2012 revised version removed the Tax Court and listed it under neither the legislative nor the executive branches. Under an amendment to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 enacted in late 2015,

4158-542: The special trial judges on the court are as follows: Former members were part of the Board of Tax Appeals until 1942, and part of the Tax Court since 1942. The court has 19 seats for active judges, numbered in the order in which they were initially filled. Judges who assume senior status enter a kind of retirement in which they remain on the bench but vacate their seats, thus allowing the U.S. President to appoint new judges to fill their seats. Case citation A legal citation

4224-413: The subject title. If the year of decision is the same as the year of the report and the date is a part of the reporter's citation, then the date need not be listed after the style of cause . If the date of the decision is different from the year of the report, then both should be shown. Where available, cases should be cited with their neutral citation immediately after the style of cause and preceding

4290-461: The tax first be paid and that the party then file suit to recover the contested amount paid (the "full payment rule" of Flora v. United States ). The first incarnation of the Tax Court was the " U.S. Board of Tax Appeals ", established by Congress in the Revenue Act of 1924 (also known as the Mellon tax bill) in order to address the increasing complexity of tax-related litigation. Those serving on

4356-431: The taxpayer generally has 90 days to file a Tax Court petition for "redetermination of the deficiency". If no petition is timely filed, the IRS may then statutorily "assess" the tax. To "assess" the tax in this sense means to administratively and formally record the tax on the books of the United States Department of the Treasury . This formal statutory assessment is a critical act, as the statutory tax lien that later arises

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