TAX COURT OPINION

Case: Frank Thomas
Docket Number: 15632-07
Judge: Colvin
Opinion Type: bench
Filed: 12/18/2008
Pages: 7

UNITED STATES TAX COURT WASHINGTON , DC 2021 7 FRANK THOMAS, Petitione r V . COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENU E Respondent O R D E R Pursuant to Rule 152(b), Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure, it i s ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall transmit herewith to petitioner and to respondent a copy of the pages of the transcript of the trial of the above case before Judge Michael B . Thornton at Oklahoma City , Oklahoma, on November 19, 2008, containing his oral findings of fact and opinion rendered at the conclusion of trial . In accordance with the oral findings of fact and opinion, decision will be entered for respondent . (Signed) Michael B. Thornton Judg e Dated : Washington, D .C . December 18, 2008 SERVED DEC 2 3 2008 3 1 Bench Opinion by Judge Michael B . Thornto n 2 November 19, 2008 Docket No . 15632-0 7 3 THE COURT : The Court has decided to render 4 oral findings of fact and opinion in this case, an d 5 the following represents the Court's oral findings of 6 fact and opinion . Except as otherwise provided by 7 Rule 152 ( c) of the Tax Court Rules of Practice and 8 Procedure , the oral findings of fact and opinion shall 9 not be relied upon as precedent . 10 This bench opinion is made pursuant to the 11 authority granted by 7459(b) and Rule 152 . Section A 12 references are to the Internal Revenue Code in effect 13 for the taxable years at issue . All rule references 14 are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure . 15 This case was tried on November 17, 2008, in 16 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma . Petitioner tried his cas e 17 pro se . Britton G . Wilson represented Respondent . 18 Respondent determined a deficiency i n 19 Petitioner ' s federal income tax of $3,478 for the year 20 2005 . The issues for decision are whether Petitioner 21 is entitled to claim the following : ( 1) a dependency 22 exemption deduction for his son ; (2) the earned-income 23 tax credit ; and (3 ) the child tax credit . 24 FINDINGS OF FAC T 25 Some of the facts have been stipulated and Heritage Reporting Corporatio n (202) 628-4888 4 1 are so found . Petitioner resided in Oklahoma City , 2 Oklahoma, when his petition was filed . Petitioner is 3 the father of E .T ., born July 2, 2003 . Petitioner and 4 E .T .'s mother, Ms . Horton, have never been married . 5 Pursuant to a 2005 judgment in a paternity action 6 brought by Petitioner in the District Court o f 7 Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Petitioner and Ms . Horton 8 were awarded joint custody of E .T ., with Ms . Horton 9 designated as primary physical custodian an d 10 Petitioner designated as secondary physical custodian . 11 Petitioner did not have physical custody of 12 E .T . for more than half of 2005 . On his 2005 return 13 Petitioner claimed E .T . as his dependent and als o 14 claimed the earned-income credit and the child tax 15 credit . 16 OPINION 17 The burden of proof is on Petitioner to show 18 that he is entitled to the claimed dependenc y 19 exemption deduction and other tax benefits at issue . 20 See Rule 142(a) . Petitioner has not claimed or shown 21 that he meets the requirements under Section 7491(a) 22 to shift the burden of proof to Respondent as to any 23 factual issue relating to his tax liability . 24 1 . Dependency Exemption Deductio n 25 A taxpayer may claim a dependency exemption Heritage Reporting Corporatio n (202) 628-4888 5 1 deduction for a "qualifying child," as defined in 2 Section 152(c) . Sections 151(c), 152(a) . A 3 qualifying child includes a person who : (1) is a 4 child of the taxpayer or the child's descendant ; (2) 5 has the same principal place of abode as the taxpayer 6 for more than one-half of the taxable year ; (3) ha s 7 not attained age 19 ; and (4) has not provided over 8 one-half of his or her own support for the calendar 9 year . Section 152(c) . 10 Respondent appears to dispute only whether 11 E .T . had the same principal place of abode a s 12 Petitioner for more than one-half of 2005 . 13 Petitioner has failed to show that he meets 14 this requirement . Accordingly, E .T . is no t 15 Petitioner's "qualifying child" within the meaning of 16 Section 152(c) . 17 For purposes of defining a dependent, 18 Section 152(e) provides a special rule whereby a 19 noncustodial parent -- such as Petitioner -- may claim 20 a dependency exemption deduction for a child i f 21 certain conditions are met . 22 One condition is that the custodial parent 23 must have executed a written declaration releasing his 24 or her claim to the dependency exemption deduction , 25 and the noncustodial parent must have attached the Heritage Reporting Corporatio n (202) 628-4888 6 1 declaration to his or her return . Section 152(e)(2) . 2 The custodial parent may make this written 3 declaration on Form 8332, Release of Claim t o 4 Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents . 5 See Miller v . Commissioner , 114 T .C . 184, 190 (2000), 6 aff'd . on other grounds sub nom . Lovejoy v . 7 Commissioner , 293 F .3d 1208 (10th Cir . 2002) ; Section 8 1 .152-4T(a), Q&A-3, Temporary Income Tax Regs ., 4 9 9 Fed . Reg . 34459 (Aug . 31, 1984) . 10 Form 8332 requires, among other things, that 11 the custodial parent sign a statement agreeing not to 12 claim the exemption for the child or children named on 13 the form for the tax year specified on the form . A 14 written declaration that is made other than on a Form 15 8332 must "conform to the substance of such form . " 16 Section 1 .152-4T(a), Q&A-3, Temporary Income Tax 17 Regs ., supra . 18 Petitioner did not attach Form 8332 to his 19 2005 federal income tax nor any other writte n 20 declaration that conformed to the substance of Form 21 8332 . Accordingly, we hold that Petitioner is not 22 eligible to claim E .T . as his dependent for 2005 . 23 2 . Earned Income Credi t 24 Section 32(a) provides for an earned income 25 credit in the case of an eligible individual . Section Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 7 1 32(c)(1)(A)(i), pertinent part, defines an "eligible 2 individual" as "any individual who has a qualifyin g 3 child for the taxable year ." A qualifying child is a 4 child of the taxpayer as defined in Section 152(c) . 5 Section 32(c)(3) . 6 As stated above, E .T . was not Petitioner's 7 qualifying child for 2005 . Thus Petitioner is no t 8 entitled to an earned income credit . Respondent's 9 determination on this issue is sustained . 10 3 . Child Tax Credi t 11 Section 24(a) provides for a "credit against 12 the tax . . . for the taxable year with respect to eac h 13 qualifying child of the taxpayer ." Section 24(c)(1) 14 provides that, for purposes of Section 24, "qualifying 15 child" means an individual under age 17 who is a 16 qualifying child of the taxpayer as defined in Section 17 152(c) . 18 As discussed above, Petitioner has not shown 19 that E .T . is a qualifying child of Petitioner unde r 20 Section 152(c) . Therefore, he has not established 21 that E .T . is a qualifying child for purposes o f 22 Section 24 . Thus Petitioner is not entitled to a 23 child tax credit for E .T . Respondent's determination 24 on this issue is sustained . 25 To reflect the foregoing, a decision will be Heritage Reporting Corporatio n (202) 628-4888 1 entered for Respondent . This concludes the Court's 2 findings of fact and opinion in this case . 3 (Whereupon , at 8 :35 a .m ., the bench opinion 4 in the above - entitled matter was concluded . ) 5 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 / / 23 24 25 // Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888