TAX COURT OPINION

Case: Ricky Lee Evans
Docket Number: 26969-08
Judge: Colvin
Opinion Type: bench
Filed: 07/09/2010
Pages: 5

SU3M~ i cE b - ~GR~uP IA esw UNITED STATES TAX COURT WASHINGTON, D.C. 20217 RICKY LEE EVANS, Petitioner , v . ) Docket No . 26969-08 COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE , 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 to petitioner and to respondent a copy of the pages of the transcript of the proceedings of the above case before Judge Diane L . Kroupa at Cleveland, Ohio, on June 21, 2010, containing her oral findings of fact and opinion . In accordance with the oral findings of fact and opinion, decision will be entered for respondent . (Signed) Diane L . Kroupa Judg e Date : Washington, D .C . July 9, 2010 SERVED JUL 1 2 2010 3 1 BENCH OPINION BY JUDGE DIANE L . KROUPA JUNE 21, 201 0 2 EVANS V . COMMISSIONER DOCKET NO . : 26969-0 8 3 THE COURT : The Court has decided to rende r 4 oral findings of fact and opinion in this c se and the 5 following represents the Court's oral findi gs of fac t 6 and opinion . The oral findings of fact and 7 shall not be relied upon as precedent in an opinio n othe r 8 case . 9 This bench opinion is made pursuant to the 10 authority granted by section 7459(b) and Rule 152 . 11 All section references are to the Internal Revenue 12 Code for 2007 (referred to in this bench opinion as 13 the "year at issue") and all Rule reference are to 14 the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedu e . 15 Mr . Evans appeared pro se, and Kate Kosar 16 appeared on behalf of respondent . 17 FINDINGS OF FAC T 18 Certain facts have been stipulated . The 19 stipulation of facts filed by the parties, with 20 accompanying exhibits, is incorporated by t i s 21 reference . Petitioner resided in Ohio at the time he 22 filed the petition in this case . 23 Petitioner was a single individual in 2007 24 and resided with his fiance and her two minor children 25 (the "children") . Petitioner is not the children' s Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 4 1 biological father and was-,not related to the children 2 during the year at issue . Petitioner reported $15,225 3 of income and claimed ,a $4,716 earned income credit on 4 his Federal income tax return for 2007 . Petitione r 5 also claimed dependency exemptions for the children, 6 as well as a $416 additional child tax credit . 7 Petitioner used the filing status head of h usehold . 8 Petitioner married his fiance in 2008 . 9= Respondent issued petitioner a deficiency 10 notice for 2007 . Respondent changed petitioner's 11 filing status from head of household to that of a 12 single individual . The deficiency notice als o 13 disallowed the earned income credit in its entirety . 14 Respondent now concedes that petitioner is entitled to 15 claim the children as dependents because they are a 16 qualifying relative and therefore concedes petitioner 17 is entitled the filing status of head of household . 18 Accordingly, we need only consider whether etitione r 19 is entitled to an earned income credit . 20 OPINIO N 21 We first address who has the burden o f 22 proof . Petitioner generally has the burden of proof . 23 See Rule 142(a) . Petitioner did not ask to shift the 24 burden to respondent under section 7491 e -e, the 25 burden remains with petitioner . Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 1 We now address the earned income credi t 2 petitioner claimed on his return for 2007 . Eligible 3 individuals may claim an earned income credit on their 4 Federal tax return . Sec . 32(a) . An indivi ual i s 5 eligible if they have a qualifying child (a opposed 6 to a qualifying relative) for the taxable y ar . Sec . 7 32(c) (1) (A) (I) . A qualifying child is one ho 8 satisfies three requirements set forth in section 9 32(c)(3) relating to the age, principal place o f 10 abode, and relationship to the taxpayer claiming the 11 credit . 12 Respondent concedes that the chil ren 13 satisfy the age and principal place of abo d 14 requirements . Respondent only challenges th e 15 children's relationship to petitioner . The individual 16 claimed as a qualifying child must be the t xpayer's 17 child . This means that the child must be t e 18 taxpayer's son, daughter, stepson, stepdaug ter, or a 19 decedent of any such relative . Here, petitioner had 20 no such relationship with the children durin the year 21 at issue . Petitioner married their mother i 2008 , 22 which is after the year at issue . He theref re did 23 not have the requisite relationship with the children 24 during 2007 . Accordingly, petitioner had n o 25 qualifying children for 2007 . Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 6 1 Even though we find petitioner did1not hav e b ,t_" 2 any qualifying children, petitioner could also-asks . 3 a 1 t-e-s an eligible individual in his o right . 4 See sec . 32(c) (1) (A) (ii) . In this case, however , 5 petitioner is still not entitled to the earned income 6 credit for 2007 because his total income of $15,22 5 7 exceeded the completed phase out amount of $12,590 . 8 See Rev . Proc . 2006-53, sec . 3 .07, 2006-2 C . B . 996 . 9 We sympathize with petitioner, but we must fDllow the 10 law . Metzger Trust v . Commissioner , 76 T . C . 42, 59- 11 60 (1981), affd . 693 F .2d 459 (5th Cir . 1982) . W e 12 therefore sustain respondent's determination tha t 13 petitioner is . not entitled to an earned income credi t 14 for 2007 . 15 To reflect the foregoing, a decisi 16 entered for respondent . 17 This concludes the-Court's oral fi 18 fact and opinion in this case . 19 (Whereupon, at 3 :38 p .m ., the benc 20 in the above-entitled matter was concluded .) 2 1 22 23 24 / / 25 Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888