TAX COURT OPINION

Case: William R. & Lenore C. Larsen
Docket Number: 5631-06
Judge: Goeke
Opinion Type: memo
Filed: 07/17/2008
Pages: 4

T .C . Memo . 2008-17 0 UNITED STATES TAX COUR T WILLIAM R . AND LENORE C . LARSEN, Petitioners v . COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Responden t a] cket No . 5631-06 . Filed July 17, 2008 . w lliam R . and Lenore C . Larsen, pro sese . vane L . Worland , for respondent . MEMORANDUM FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION G EKE, Judge : Respondent determined deficiencies in peti t i oners' Federal income taxes of $3,784 and $7,216 for 2002 and 21, 0 03, respectively . Petitioners claim entitlement t o deper j oint return ency exemptions and child tax credits claimed on their Forms 1040, U .S . Individual Income Tax Return (ta x s) . In addition, petitioners seek relief in the nature o f SERVED JUL 17 2008 - 2 - a writ of mandamus or a court order compelling respondent to issue individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITINs) to petit ners' five minor children . FINDINGS .OF FAC T me of the facts have been stipulated, and the stipulation of facts and the attached exhibits are incorporated herein by this ference . At the time the petition was filed, petitioners were i- sidents of Indiana . E titioners filed joint tax returns for 2002 and 2003 claims g dependency exemptions and child tax credits for their five minor children . Respondent disallowed the exemptions and credit in the notice of deficiency because petitioners did not provic Social Security numbers (SSNs) for their five children on the t returns . Though they are eligible as U .S . citizens, petit ners' children have not applied for SSNs for persona l religi us reasons . Petitioners have sought the issuance of ITINs for tt it children in lieu of SSNs for a number of years ; an d now, 4 addition to seeking entitlement to the exemptions an d credits , petitioners request relief from this Court through a writ q mandamus to compel the issuance of ITINs for the child n . trial respondent conceded the claimed dependenc y exemptions and child tax credits, and petitioners accepted thes e conces$ions . Therefore, the only issue before us is whether 3 petit ners are entitled to a writ of mandamus or a court order compe Ling respondent to issue petitioners ' children ITINs . OPINION is Court is a court of limited jurisdiction , having only such jurisdiction as provided by Congress . See sec . 7442 ; see also tate of Meyer v . Comm issioner , 84 T .C . 560, 562 ( 1985) ; Adams . Comm issioner , 72 T .C . 81, 84 ( 1979 ), affd . without published opinion 688 F .2d 815 ( 2d Cir . 1982 ) . With exceptions not germane here , in deficiency cases this Court ' s jurisdiction is ge rally limited to redetermining deficiencies in income taxes, estate and gift taxes , and certain specified excise taxe s that #e subject to deficiency procedures . See secs . 6214, 7442 ; see a o Estate of Meyer v . Commissioner , supra at 562 ; Judd v . Commi ioner, 74 T .C . 651, 653 (1980) ; Loadholt Trust v . Comm i ioner, T .C . Memo . 2000-349 . rsuant to section 6214(a), our jurisdiction is limited to redet mining the correct amount of the deficiency determined by respondent . Neither section 6214 nor any other statute provides this urt an independent jurisdictional basis to review th e Inter al Revenue Service's refusal to issue an ITIN if the refus l is irrelevant to the determination of a deficiency . ecause petitioners accepted respondent's concession of th e depenIe cy exemptions and child tax credits, it is unnecessary to reach !!the question of whether petitioners' children are entitled - 4 - to IT s, and the Court generally does not decide issues that are moot . See Greene-Thapedi v . Commissioner , 126 T .C . 1, 13 (2006) ; LTV C . v . Comm issioner, 64 T .C . 589, 594-595 (1975) ; Bullock v . Co issioner, T .C . Memo . 2006-6, affd . 206 Fed . Appx . 164 (3d Cir . 06) . Therefore, we need not determine petitioners ' child ns' entitlement to ITINs as doing so would function primarily as an advisory opinion for future tax years . titioners' final request is for a writ of mandamus t o compel the issuance of ITINs to their five minor children . Howev , 28 U .S .C . sec . 1361 (2000) grants District Courts origin 1 jurisdiction "of any action in the nature of mandamus to compel an officer or employee of the United States or agency thereof to perform a duty owed to the plaintiff ." Accordingly, we are without jurisdiction to issue a writ of mandamu s compel ing respondent to issue ITINs to petitioners' children . reflect the foregoing, Decision will be entered for petitioners as to the deficiencies .