South Fulton Parkway 58, LLC, South Fulton 58 Manager, LLC, Tax Matters Partner
United States Tax Court · 2026-05-04
This case involved two Georgia LLCs that purchased vacant land parcels near Atlanta for a total of roughly $700,000 and claimed charitable contribution deductions for conservation easements valued at nearly $30 million combined. The Tax Court resolved the dispute over the properties' fair market values by adopting before values of $470,000 and $700,000 from the Commissioner's expert appraisal and after values of $40,000 and $90,000 from the taxpayers' expert, resulting in allowable deductions of $430,000 and $610,000. The court upheld the 40% gross valuation misstatement penalties under section 6662(h) because the claimed values were more than double the correct amounts and the Commissioner had complied with supervisory approval requirements.
taxesproperty
Peter L. Clinco, C. M. Barone-Clinco, Successor in Interest, and C. M. Barone-Clinco
United States Tax Court · 2026-02-09
This U.S. Tax Court case involved Peter Clinco and his wife, who filed a late 2015 joint return reporting income and losses from Clinco's law practice, a family restaurant operated as MedCafe, and two rental properties. The IRS determined that the Clincos underreported gross receipts from the restaurant and disallowed claimed depreciation deductions on the rental properties for lack of substantiation. After a bank-deposits analysis, the court upheld the IRS's finding of additional taxable income from the restaurant, subject to a minor adjustment for verified capital contributions, and rejected the depreciation claims because the taxpayers provided no evidence of the properties' bases or dates placed in service. The court held that taxpayers bear the burden of proving the accuracy of their returns and entitlement to deductions under sections 167 and 6001. It ruled for the Commissioner on the primary issues, with the final deficiency to be computed under Rule 155.
taxesbusiness & regulatory
Mission Organic Center, Inc.
United States Tax Court · 2025-12-16
The case involved Mission Organic Center, Inc., a California marijuana dispensary, challenging the IRS's collection actions for its 2021 tax liability of $331,517 after the company submitted an offer-in-compromise to settle debts from 2016-2021. The Tax Court reviewed the Appeals officer's notice of determination sustaining a levy, which denied the OIC and other collection alternatives. The court held that the officer abused discretion by misinterpreting the taxpayer's arguments as challenging underlying liability under section 280E rather than seeking collection alternatives, by failing to properly consider the financial information already provided to the IRS, and by not addressing the actual issues raised in the CDP hearing. It remanded the case for a supplemental hearing. The topics are taxes and business & regulatory.
taxesbusiness & regulatory
Jodell Sample
United States Tax Court · 2025-11-17
This U.S. Tax Court case involved petitioner Jodell Sample, who sought innocent spouse relief under IRC section 6015 from joint federal income tax liabilities exceeding $300,000 for tax years 2011-2014, 2017, and 2018. The liabilities arose from her husband Joseph Schara's underreporting of income from his dental practice, where Sample worked as office manager, and the couple's failure to pay taxes due on joint returns that she signed without review. The court granted equitable relief for 2011-2013, finding Sample reasonably ignorant of the underpayments before an IRS visit in 2015, but denied relief for 2014, 2017, and 2018 because she had actual knowledge of the substantial understatements by then and continued to file jointly. Key factors in the analysis included marital status, knowledge of the tax issues, compliance with tax laws after separation, and lack of significant benefit from the unpaid taxes, with the decision turning on when Sample should have disentangled herself financially.
taxesfamily law
Lakeview Hospice Care, Inc.
United States Tax Court · 2025-10-09
The case involved the IRS's audit of Lakeview Hospice Care, Inc., a California C corporation providing hospice services, and its owners, the Garibyan brothers, for the 2015 and 2016 tax years. The Commissioner used bank deposit analyses to determine that the company had underreported gross income by more than $200,000 and disallowed over $450,000 in deductions, while also asserting accuracy-related penalties under section 6662 for negligence or substantial understatement. The petitioners contested these adjustments, attributing discrepancies to their accrual-method accounting system, passthrough billing practices in the hospice industry, and reliance on professional bookkeepers. The court found that Lakeview's unreliable ledger entries resulted from advice by its accountants and the complexities of its business, but concluded by a preponderance of the evidence that the company had reasonable cause and acted in good faith, avoiding the penalties, with the overall outcome on income and deductions described as mixed and requiring Rule 155 computations.
taxesbusiness & regulatoryhealthcare
Robertino Presta & Antonella Presta
United States Tax Court · 2025-08-04
This U.S. Tax Court case concerned whether premiums paid by the Prestas' grocery and real-estate businesses to their wholly owned captive insurer, CFM Insurance, qualified as deductible insurance expenses under the Internal Revenue Code. The court held that CFM did not qualify as an insurance company under section 831 because its operations failed to meet the requirements of risk distribution and common acceptance as insurance, rendering the premium payments nondeductible and includible in CFM's income. The Prestas' businesses therefore could not exclude the payments from income, and the tax consequences flowed through to the Prestas. The court further ruled that the Prestas were not liable for accuracy-related penalties because they reasonably relied on competent tax professionals and the microcaptive issue was one of first impression at the time.
taxesbusiness & regulatory