TAX COURT OPINION

Case: Moses Johnson
Docket Number: 23240-07S
Judge: Gustafson
Opinion Type: summary
Filed: 05/05/2009
Pages: 7

Ia T .C . Summary Opinion 2009-6 4 UNITED STATES TAX COURT MOSES JOHNSON, Petitioner v . COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Responden t Docket No . 23240-07S . Filed May 5, 2009 . Moses Johnson, pro se . Olivia J . Hyatt , for respondent . GUSTAFSON, Judge : This case was heard pursuant to the provisions of section 74631 in effect when the petition wa s filed . Pursuant to section 7463 (b), the decision to be entered . is not reviewable by any other court, and this opinion shall no t be treated as precedent for any other case . 'Unless otherwise indicated all citations of sections refer to the Internal Revenue Code of 2986 (26U .S .C .) in effect for the . tax year at issue, and all citations of Rules refer to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure . ES MAY - 5 2309 - 2 - ~ i The Internal Revenue Service ( IRS) determined a $1,534 deficiency in . petitioner Moses Johnson ' s 2005 Federal income tax . The issues for decision are : (i ) whether Mr . Johnson had unreported income in 2005 from five sources ( ABC HR Services, L .L .C .,,Augusta Temporaries , the Georgia Department of Labor, Social Security , and the Georgia Bank & Trust Co .) ; and whether income that Mr . Johnson earned and reported in 2004 was wrongly and duplicatively attributed to him in 2005. We find that (L) Mr . Johnson did have unreported . income in 2005 from those fve , sources, and (ii) the income he earned and reported i n 2004 was not wrongly and duplicatively attributed to him in 2005 . Background Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found . The stipulation of facts filed December 8, 2008, and the attached Exhibits l-J and 2 - J are incorporated herein by this reference . Exhibits 3-J, 4-J, 5-P, and 6-P were received into evidence at trial ; and Exhibits 7-J, 8-J, and 9 - J!were received into evidence by the Court ' s order dated March 4, 2009 .2 At the time that he filed his petition , Mr . Johnson resided in Georgia . 2Exhibits 7 through 9 bear the suffix " - J" because respondent initially proposed them as joint exhibits . they were ultimately received into evidence on respondent's motion,and' over petitioner ' s objection , so they are not joint exhibits . 2004 and 2005 , which are confusingly similar, we cite the exhibits in this opinion . . To enable petitioner to compare the wage amounts for However, I a t I Mr . Johnson's Income for 2004 3 - Although the year at issue is 2005, the following facts for tax year 2004 are relevant here . During 2004 Mr . Johnson received $16, 182 .39 of income fr om Augusta Temporaries, as is shown in its detailed payroll re cord (Ex . 8-J) . Accordingly, his employer (under the name Augusta Staffing)-issued him a Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement (Ex . 7-J, second page), in the amount of $16,182 . On April 15, 2005, Mr . Johnson timely filed his 200 4 Form 1040, U .S . Individual Income Tax Return (Ex . 7-J), on which he reported as income the $16,182 shown-on that Form W-2 . There is no dispute about this 2004 income or Mr . Johnson's reporting of it . Mr . Johnson's Income for 200 5 During 2005 Mr . Johnson received (1) $145 of income from AB C HR Services, L .L .C . ; (2) $1,088 of unemployment compensation from the Georgia Department of Labor ; 3 (3) $5,644 of Social Security benefits, of which a portion is taxable pursuant to section 86 ; (4) $22 of interest income from the Georgia Bank & Trust Co ., ; (5) $6,809 .61 from Augusta Temporaries (Ex . 6-P) ; and (6 ) $16, 624 .48 of wages from International Paper, as is shown on it s detailed payroll record (Ex . 9_ J 3Unemployment compensation is taxable pursuant t o section 85 . 4The International Paper payroll record (Ex . 9-J) shows, (continued . . .) - 4 - t On April 15, 2006, Mr . Johnson timely filed his 2005 Form 1040, on which he reported item 6 above--i .e ., $16, 624 as shown on a Form .W-2,(Ex . 5-P) issued by Augusta Staffing fo r Mr . Johnson's, .work .at International Paper . However, he did not report (cid:127)on-his return items 1 through 5 listed above ., Mr . Johnson, has stipulated that .he received those unreported amounts, and it is undisputed : that he did not report them . , The IRS mailed Mr . Johnson a statutory notice of deficiency for tax year 2005 on August 20, 2007, adjusting Mr . Johnson's income .upward by $9,137 and determining an income tax deficiency of $1,534 .° On October 9, 2007, Mr . Johnson timely filed his petition in this Court seeking redetermination of tha t deficiency . A trial was held on December 8, 2008, in Columbia , South Carolina . I . Allegations of the Partie s Discussion Respondent determined that Mr . Johnson had unreported income in 2005(cid:127)from five sources and that the correction of this omission increases Mr . Johnson's income by $9,137 . Mr .,Johnson admits -that he had income from these sources in the amounts tha t .respondent determined and failed to report it . However, Mr . '( . . .continued) gross wages of $17,027 .27 .(cid:127) However, it shows taxable wages of $16,624' .48, which corresponds to the $16, 624 amount that appears as wages in box 1 on the Augusta Staffing Form W-2 . Johnson'-contends that a-greater amount--approximately $16,000 of income that he earned and report ed,in 2004--was wrongly and . . duplicatively attributed to him in 2005, and thus, he was-taxed twice on the same income . Spec' fically, Mr .-Johnson allegesr tha t Augusta'Staffing erred in sendi"g him the 2005 Form W-2 (Ex .'~ 6-P) which shows that he received $1 ;,624 .48 of income in 2005 , because (he says) he did-not ea n that amount°in 2005 . Instead , Mr . Johnson argues that he earned that income in 2004 and tha t Augusta Staffing mistakenly' .restated that same income on a Form W-2 for 2005 . II . The 2005 Form W-2 Is Not D licativ e Mr . Johnson is certainly r'ght that "as a genera l income" . See Seltzer v . Commissioner, T .C . Memo . 1996-240, affd . without published opinion 124 F . 3d 205 .(7th Cir . 1997) . However , Mr . Johnson bears the burden of that all or a part of the $16,6 shown on the 2005 Form W-2 is duplicative'of the $16, 182 of : income from Augusta Staffing sh wn on the 2004 Form W-2 . 'Mr . Johnson has neither claimed nor shown that he satisfied the requirements of section 7491(a) to shift the 'burden of 'proof' to respondent with,regard to an factual issue . He therefor e bears the burden of proof . ' SeelRule 142(a)(1) . - 6 - The only evidence that Mr .-Johnson provided in support o f his contention that-he did not receive the $16,624 of income fro m Augusta",Staffing . in 2005 was his testimony.: The $16,000 that year, .I .didn't receive-, MR JOHNSON : it'in 1 05 . I received it'in '04 . That money I work in 04 . I work-from January through September 104 . I ;was laid off in 104 . That's when I received that money I filed in '05 . THE COURT : mistake in issuing a 2005 W-2 in the amount of 16,624 ? .. So you're saying that the company made ;a That's what it seems, because the income MR . JOHNSON : that I earned - the income that Learned in 104 is 1 6 ,000, because I was laid off the job September 6 . That's why I do remember that, because I drew unemployment . [Emphasis added . ] In contradiction of this testimony, however, the record includes Forms W-2 from Augusta Staffing showing that Mr . Johnson received $16, 182 of income in 2004 (Ex . 7-J, second page) and $16, 624 of income in 2005 (Ex . 5-P) . If the numbers on thes e Forms-W-2 had been identical, then Mr . Johnson's allegation that the 2005 amount is duplicative of the 2004 amount might have been more ~. convincing . However, the $442 .09 difference between the amounts shown on the two Forms W-2 demonstrates that August a Staffing did not simply issue the same Form W-2 twice . ..Tha t difference is therefore some evidence that the 2005 Form W-2 wa s not the result of a duplication error . More important , the record includes payroll records for Mr . Johnson's, employment in 2004 (Ex . 8-J) and 2005 (Ex 9-J), ai .1 i it r 1 1 and the records show that he'did indeed receive wages''of 7 $16, 182 .39 in 2004 and wages of $16, 624 .48 in 2005--the same amounts that appear on the two orms W-2 . These payroll records show the pay periods during whi h Mr . Johnson worked and the ' amounts that he was paid for those periods . The periods and , amounts shown for 2005 are not duplicates of those shown for 2004 ; they are entirely'differe t . ConcLusion In view of this documentary evidence, Mr . Johnson' s uncorroborated testimony is ins fficient to carry his burden of proof . We conclude that his recollection is faulty ; and we hol d that, although he may have forgotten it, Mr . Johnson did receiv e $16,624 .48 of income from Augus a Staffing in 2005 . We also hol d (as the parties have stipulated }1 that Mr . Johnson had unreported income in 2005 from ABC HR Services, L .L .C ., Augusta Temporaries , the Georgia Department of Labor Social Security, and the Georgia Bank & Trust Co . in the amounts determined in the notice of ; deficiency . To reflect the foregoing, Decision will be entered fo r respondent .