TAX COURT OPINION

Case: Evelyn V. Frison
Docket Number: 891-07
Judge: Colvin
Opinion Type: bench
Filed: 07/22/2008
Pages: 8

UNITED STATES TAX COURT WASHINGTON, D .C . 2021 7 f-I F_ CORDID (cid:127) l EVELYN V . .FRISON, Petitioner , V . , COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE , Respondent . Docket No . 891-0 7 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 Diane L . Kroupa at Memphis, Tennessee on June 10, 2008, containing her oral findings of fact and opinion rendered after the conclusion of trial . In accordance with the oral findings of fact and opinion, decision will be entered for respondent . (Signed ) Diane L. Kroupa Judg e Dated : Washington, D .C . July 22, 2008 SERVED JUL 2 2 2008 2 1 Bench Opinion by Judge Diane L . Kroupa June 10, 200 8 2 Frison v . Commissioner Docket No . 891-0 7 3 THE COURT : The Court has decided to rende r 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 . These oral findings of fact and 7 opinion shall not be relied upon as precedent in any other case . 9 This bench opinion is made pursuant to the 10 authority granted by section 7459(b) of the Internal 11 Revenue Code and Rule 152 of the Tax Court Rules o f 12 Practice and Procedure . All section references are to 13 the Internal Revenue Code for the years 2004 and 2005, 14 which shall be referred to as the "years at issue, " 15 and all rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of 16 Practice and Procedure . 17 Evelyn Frison appeared pro se on her own 18 behalf, and ' .eira-Lynn Zentara appeared on behalf of 19 Respondent . 20 FINDINGS OF FAC T 21 Certain facts have been stipulated . The 22 stipulation of facts filed by the parties, with 23 accompanying exhibits, is incorporated by thi s 24 reference . Petitioner resided in Tennessee at the 25 time she filed the petition in this case . Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 3 1 Petitioner timely filed a return for 2004 2 and 2005 , using head- of-househcld filing status and 3 claiming two dependents , . A .T . and C .T . She also 4 claimed the earned incomeAcredit and the child ta x +4 -X 5 credit, using A .T . and C .T . as qualifying children . 6 Petitioner claims that A .T . and C .T . are he r 7 "grandchildren ." The record reflects only that A .T . 8 and C .T . .are .the grandchildren of her ex-boyfriend who 9 used to live with petitioner . Petitioner ' s . son wa s 10 . not listed on the birth certificates of either A .T . or 11 C .T . 12 Petitioner has provided no documentation to 13 prove that she is related to A .T . or C .T . and that she 14 is . their ."grandmother . " 15 From November 2004 until May 2005, the 16 children's address was listed on Olive Street, no 17 petitioner 's address . 18 Respondent determined a $5,459 deficiency in 19 petitioner's Federal income tax for 2004 and a $5,531 20 deficiency in petitioner's Federal income tax for 2005 21 in a notice of deficiency dated December 12, 200 6 22 . ("the deficiency notice") . 23 Respondent made the following adjustments in 24 the deficiency notice .. First, respondent denied 25 petitioner ' s claimed dependency exemptions for A .T . Heritage Reporting Corporatio n (202) 628-4888 4 1 and C .T . Second, respondent adjusted petitioner's 2 filing status from "Head of Household" to "Single ." 3 Third, respondent denied petitioner's claimed child 4 tax credit and additional child tax credit . An d 5 fourth, respondent denied petitioner's claimed earned 6 income credit . Petitioner contests all adjustment s 7 respondent determined in the deficiency notice . OPINION 9 Burden of Proof . We first address who ha s 10 the burden of proof . Petitioner generally has the 11 burden of proof . See Rule 142(a) . Although section 12 7491 applies to this because it involves matter s 13 relating to 2004 and 2005, section 7491 does not shift 14 the burden of proof to respondent, because petitioner 15 failed to introduce any credible evidence and failed 16 the substantiation requirements under section 7491 . 17 Accordingly, the burden remains with petitioner . 18 Dependent Exemption . Next, we address the 19 dependency exemptions . A taxpayer is allowed an 20 annual exemption deduction for each "dependent" as 21 defined in section 152 . Sec . 151(c) . The term 22 "dependent" includes a "qualifying relative" defined 23 as-an individual if not related to the taxpayer that 24 lives with the taxpayer for the entire taxable year . 25 Sec . 152(d)(2)(H) . The taxpayer must provide ove r Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 5 1 one-half of the individual's support for the year to 2 claim a dependent . Sec . 152(d)(1)(C) . 3 Petitioner provided no documentation t o 4 prove that she is related to A .T . and C .T . and tha t she is their "grandmother ." Thus, petitioner is not entitled to the dependent exemptions . 7 Head of Household Filing Status/Section 2(b) . We also conclude that petitioner may not fil e 9 as head of household for either 200 4.or 2005 . An 10 individual will qualify for head of household status 11 if the taxpayer maintains as his or her home a 12 household that is the principal place of abode of a 13 dependent for more than one-half of the taxable year .. 14 Sec . 2(b) (1) (A) ;l) . Here, petitioner has failed t o 15 prove that the children are dependents of hers . 16 addition, the record is not clear that the children 17 lived with her the requisite amount of time, if at 18 all . 19 In addition, an individual maintains a 20 household only if he furnishes over half the costs of .21 maintaining the household during the taxable year . 22 Sec . 2(b)(1) ; sec . 1 .2-2(b)(1), Income Tax Regs . Th e 23 costs of maintaining the household include propert y 24 taxes, mortgage interest, utility charges, upkeep and 25 repairs, property insurance, and food consumed on the Heritage Reporting Corporatio n (202) 628-4888 6 1 premises . Sec . 1 .2-2(d), Income Tax Regs . Here , 2 petitioner has failed to show the costs of maintaining 3 any household, let alone the household in which the 4 children lived . 5 Accordingly, petitioner is not entitled to 6 claim head of household status for either 2004 o r 7 2005 . We therefore sustain respondent's adjustment in 8 the deficiency notice changing petitioner's filin g 9 status from "Head of Household" to "Single . " 10 Earned Income Credit . Next, we address the 11 earned income credit petitioner claimed on her return 12 for each of the years at issue . Eligible individuals 13 may claim an earned income credit on their Federal tax 14 return . Sec . 32(a) . An individual is eligible i f 15 they have a qualifying child for the taxable year . 16 Sec . 32 (c) (1) (A) (1) . A qualifying child is ones- 17 who satisfies three requirements set forth in section 18 32 ( c)(3) relating to the age, principal place o f 19 abode, and relationship to the taxpayer claiming the 20 credit . 21 Here, petitioner has not substantiated that 22 she maintained as her home a household tha t 23 constituted the principal place of abode for the 24 children during either 2004 or 2005 . Accordingly , 25 petitioner has no qualifying children for these years . Heritage Reporting Corporatio n (202) 628-4888 1 Even though we find petitioner did not have 2 any qualifying children, petitioner could also be an 3 eligible individual . See sec . 32(c) (1) (A) (ii) . In 4 this case, however, petitioner is still not entitled 5 to the earned income credit for either year, because 6 petitioner failed to prove her income fell below the 7 phase-out amount for either year . See . Rev . Proc . 8 2004-71 C .B . 970,973 . Therefore, we sustai n 9 respondent's determination that petitioner is no t 10 entitled to an earned income credit for either 2004 or 11 2005 . 12 Child Tax Credit/26(a) . We last address the 13 child tax credit petitioner claimed on her return for 14 2004 and 2005 . Section 24(a) authorizes a child tax 15 credit with respect to each "qualifying child" of the 16 taxpayer . Section 24(d) authorizes an additiona l 17 child tax credit for families with three or mor e 18 "qualifying" children . The term "qualifying child" is 19 defined in section 24(c) . As relevant here, a 20 "qualifying child" means an individual with respect to 21 whom the taxpayer is allowed to claim as a dependent 22 under section 152 . Sec . 24(c)(1)(A) . 23 We have already held that petitioner is not 24 entitled to claim a dependency exemption for either of 25 the children . Accordingly neither of the children is Heritage Reporting Corporatio n (202) 628-4888 8 1 a "qualifying child" within the meaning of sectio n 2 24(c) . It follows, therefore, that petitioner is not 3 entitled to a child tax credit under section 24(a) or 4 an additional child tax credit under section 24(d ) 5 regarding the children . 6 The Court therefore sustains all o f 7 respondent's adjustments in the deficiency notice . 8 To reflect the foregoing, a decision will be 9 entered for respondent . 10 This concludes the Court's oral findings of 11 fact and opinion in this case . 12 (Whereupon, at 2 :17 p .m ., the bench opinion 13 in the above-entitled matter was concluded . ) 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 // . 23 24 25 Heritage Reporting Corporation' (202) 628-4888