TAX COURT OPINION

Case: Julian Rodriguez
Docket Number: 14870-11S
Judge: Armen
Opinion Type: bench
Filed: 02/15/2012
Pages: 7

UNITED STATES TAX COURT WASHINGTON, DC 20217 JULIAN RODRIGUEZ, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent ) ) ) ) ) Docket No. 14870-11S. ) ) ) ) ORDER Bursuant to Rule 152(b), Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure, it is ORDERED that the Clerk of thb Court shall transmit herewith to petitioner and to rlespondent a copy of the pages of the transcript of the trial of the above case before Special Trial Judge Robe t N. Armen, Jr. at San Diego, California, on Februaty 1, 2012, containing his oral findings of fact and opinion rendered at the conclusion of the trial. In accordance with the oral findings óf fact and opinion, a decision will be entered under Rule 155. (Signed) Robert N. Armen, Jr. Special Trial Judge Dated: Washington, D.C. February 15, 2012 $ERVED FEB 1 7 2012 3 1 2. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Bench Opinion by Special Trial Judge Robert N. Armen, Jr. Julian Rodriguez v. Commissioner Docket No. 14870-12 February 1, 2012 I. .The Court has decided to render oral findings of fact and opinion in this case, and the following represents the Court's oral findings of fact and opinion. The oral findings of fact and opinion shall not be relied upon as precedent in any other case. See Rule.152(c), Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure. II. This proceeding was heard as a Small Tax Case pursuant to the provisions of Section 7463 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and Rules 170 through 175 of the Tax Court Rules iof Practice and Procedure.. III. This bench opinion is made pursuant to the authority granted b(cid:0)570Section 7459(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amendèd, and Rule 152 of the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure. Hereinafter, in this bench opinion, all section numbers refer to the Internal Revenue Code, as amended and in effect for 2008, the taxable year in issue, and all rule numbers refer to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure. IV. Julian R driguez (Petitioner) appeared on his own behalf. Michael S. Hensley appeared on behalf of Respondent. Heritagè Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 V. Respondent determined a deficiency in, and an addition to the tax under Section 665i(a) (1) to, Petitioner's federal,income tax for 2008 in the amounts of $3,632 and $156.70,.respectively. VI. At trial, Petitioner conceded that for 2008: (1) he is not entitled to a dependency exemption deduction for either his father or his brother; and that (2) he filed his income tax return for such year after the prescribed time, and is thereforejliable for the addition to tax under Section 6651(a) (1). After Petitioner's concessions, the issues for decision by the Court are as follows: (1) Whether Petitioner is entitled to-a dependency exemption deduction fo¼ his daughter; (2) Whether Petitioner is entitled to a child tax credit in respect of his daughter; and (3) Whether Petitioner is entitled to head-of- household filing status. We emphasize that we decide these issues only for the single taxable yea before us, i.e., 2008. VII. Some of the facts have been stipulated, and they are so found. Petitioner re ided in the State of California at the time that the petition was filed with the Court. For a period of time, Petitioner and a woman, who Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 we shall refer to as Olivia, were romantically involved. Although the couple ne er married, they had a daughter, who was born in May 2003. Petitioner was, and has remained at all times, a devoted pårent. In or about D cember 2005, Petitioner and Olivia separated. At some point, custody of their daughter became an issue, and the mattér went to family court. Ultimately, on a date after the close of the taxable year in issue, the family court awarded Pétitioner custody of the couple's daughter for all.but f ur hours per week of unsupervised visitation by Olivia. In 2008, Peti ioner's daughter's principal place of abode for.more than half the year was the residence 14 maintained by Petition¼r. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Petitioner wa(cid:0)541emp'loyed as a finance manager for an automobile dealership in 2008 and earned approximately $38,000. Olivia was not employed outside the house. Petitioner late-filed a federal income tax return (Form 1040) for 2008. On his return, Petitioner designated his filing status as h ad-of-household, and he claimed dependency exemption dèductions for his father, his brother, and his daughter. Petitioner also claimed a child tax credit in respect of h s daughter. In the notice of deficiency, Respondent changed Petitioner's filing st tus to single and disallowed the Heritäg Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 three dependency exemption deductions and the child tax credit . At trial, Petitioner challenged only the change in his filing status and he disallowance of the dependency exemption deduction fo his daughter and the related child tax credit. VIII. We decide this case without resort to the burden of proof. A. Dependency exemption deduction. In general, a taxpayer may claim a dependency exemption deduction "for each individual who is ja dependent (as defined in Section 152) of the taxpayer for . the taxable year . " Section 151 (a) , (c) . Section 152 (a). defines a "dependent" to include a "qualifying child" or (cid:16)040"qualifying relative. " As relevant herein, an individual níust meet the following tests in order to be the qualifying .child of a taxpayer: (1) relationship test; (2) residency te t; (3) .age test; afid (4) support test. Section 152(c) { ). In the instant case, the putative qualifying child, i.e., Petitioner's daughter, clearly satisfies the relationship test and the age test. As a five-year-old child, she clearly did not provide more than half of her own support, so she satisfies the support test, too. Th leaves only the residency test. But given our finding that the .daughter' s principal place of abode for more than half Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 of 2008 was the residence maintained by Petitioner, the residency test is alsoisatisfied. In view of thè foregoing, we hold that Petitioner is entitled to a dependency exemption deduction for his daughter for 2008. B. Child tax credit. Section 24(a)1 allows taxpayers a credit against tax imposed for each qualifying child. The term "qual fying child" is defined by Section 24 (c) (1) to mean a quaiifying child of the taxpayer, as defined in Section 152 c), who has not attained the age of 17. As previously concluded, Petitioner had a qualifying child, as defined in Section 152(c), in 2008, i.e., his five-year-old daughter. Accordingly, we hold that 15 Petitioner is entitled to a child tax credit for that year. 16 17 18 C. Head-of-hdusehold filing status. As relevant herein, to qualify for head-of-household filing status, a taxpayer must pay more than one half of the cost of 19 maintaining a home and ave at least one qualifying child as 20 21 22 defined in Section 152(c) determined without regard to Section 152(e). _Sectio 2(b); see Section 152(c). We have previo sly found that during 2008 23 Petitioner's daughter's principal place of abode for more 24 than half the year was residence that was maintained by 25 Petitioner. It follows, therefore_, that Petitioner Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 qualifies for head-of-household filing status for 2008, and we so hold. . IX. In order t-o give effect to our disposition of the disputed issues, as well as Petitioner' s concessions, decision will be enter d pursuant to Rule 155. X. This concludes the Court's oral findings of fact and opinion in this case. (Whereupon, a 3:44 p.m., the bench opinion in the above-entitled matter as concluded. ) // // / // // // // // // // // // // // // Heritage Reporting Corporation . (202) 62814888