TAX COURT OPINION

Case: Antonio Garcia
Docket Number: 4267-17
Judge: Nega
Opinion Type: bench
Filed: 02/27/2018
Pages: 7

CT UNITED STATES TAX COURT WASHINGTON, DC 20217 ANTONIO GARCIA, Petitioner, v. ) ) ) ) Docket No. 4267-17. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent ) ) ) ORDER Pursuant to Rule 152(b) of the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure, it is 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 in the above case before Judge Joseph W. Nega at Los Angeles, California, on January 31, 2018, containing his oral findings of fact and opinion rendered at the trial session at which the case was heard. In accordance with the oral findings of fact and opinion, decision will be for petitioner. (Signed) Joseph W. Nega Judge Dated: Washington, D.C. February 27, 2018 SERVED Feb 28 2018 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Bench Opinion by Judge Joseph W. Nega January 31, 2018 Antonio Garcia v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Docket No. 4267-17 The Court has decided to render the following as its oral findings of fact and opinion in this case and the following represents the Court's oral findings of fact and opinion. In this Bench Opinion, unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to the Internal Revenue Code in effect for the year at issue, and all Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of 12 Practice and Procedure. This Bench Opinion is rendered 13 pursuant to section 7459(b) and Rule 152, and this 14 opinion shall not be treated as precedent for any other 15 case. 16 Isai B. Cortez, Michelle Curtis (student), and 17 David Zand (student) appeared on behalf of petitioner. 18 Daniel V. Triplett, Jr. appeared on behalf of 19 respondent. 20 21 22 Respondent determined a deficiency of $3,572 in petitioner's Federal income tax for tax year 2015. The issues for petitioner's tax year 2015 are whether 23 petitioner is entitled to (1) a dependency exemption 24 for his adult brother and (2) head of household filing 25 status. BEllER (973)406-2250|operationseescribers.net[www.escribers.net FINDINGS OF FACT This case was tried on January 29, 2018, in 4 Los Angeles, California. Petitioner resided in 1 2 3 4 California at the time he filed the petition. 5 6 7 8 9 During 2015, petitioner lived with his adult brother and their mother. Petitioner filed his Form 1040, U.S. Individual Tax Return (return), for tax year 2015. In that return, petitioner claimed a dependency exemption for his adult brother and claimed head of 10 household filing status. 11 Petitioner, though failing to produce 12 significant documentary evidence, did testify credibly and 13 14 15 convincingly about the complicated living arrangement he shared with his adult brother and their mother. In an exceedingly close call we find that petitioner provided 16 more than half of A the support for his adult brother and 17 maintained the household for his family during tax year 2015. 18 19 20 I. Burden of Proof OPINION 21 22 The Commissioner's determinations in a notice are generally presumed correct, and the taxpayer 23 ordinarily bears the burden of proving those 24 determinations erroneous. Rule 142(a); Welch v. 25 Helvering, 290 U.S. 111, 115 (1933). Deductions and (973)406-2250|operationseescribers.net|www.escribers.net 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 credits are a matter of legislative grace, and the taxpayer bears the burden of proving entitlement to any deduction or credit claimed. Rule 142(a); Deputy v. du Pont, 308 U.S. 488, 493 (1940); New Colonial Ice Co. v. Helvering, 292 U.S. 435, 440 (1934) . ust comply with specific requirements for any deductions claimed. See INDOPCO, Inc. v. Commissioner, 503 U.S. 79, 84 (1992); New Colonial Ice Co. v. Helvering, 292 U.S. at 440. Taxpayers must also maintain adequate records to substantiate the amounts of any credits and deductions. See sec. 6001; sec. 1.6001-1(a), Income Tax Regs. 12 Likewise, the taxpayer is obligated to demonstrate 13 entitlement to an advantageous filing status, such as 14 head of household. See sec. 152(c)(3) (A), Smith v. 15 Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2008-229. ÚWQ 16 17 18 II. Exemptions and Filing Status A. Dependency Exemption Section 151(c) permits a taxpayer to claim as a 19 deduction an exemption for each dependent. Section 20 152(a) provides that a dependent must be either a 21 22 23 24 "qualifying child" or a "qualifying relative" of the taxpayer. The term "qualifying relative" means an individual: (1) who bears a specified relationship to 25 the taxpayer; (2) whose gross income is less than the (973)406-2250|operations@escrbers.net[www.escribers.net 6 exemption amount; (3) with respect to whom the taxpayer provides over one-half of the individual's support; and (4) who is not a qualifying child of the taxpayer or of any other taxpayer. Sec. 152(d)(1). However, even if an individual satisfies the requirements of section 152(d)(1), the individual may not be treated as a dependent of a taxpayer if he or she filed a joint return with his or her spouse "for the taxable year beginning in the calendar year in which the taxable year of the taxpayer begins." Sec. 152(b)(2). At no time did respondent dispute that 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 petitioner's adult brother: (1) had a specified 13 14 relationship to petitioner; (2) had a gross income less than the exemption amount; or (3) was not a qualifying 15 child of petitioner or any other taxpayer. Rather 16 respondent's sole dispute regarding petitioner's 17 eligibility for the dependency exemption concerned whether 18 petitioner provided more than one-half of the support for 19 his adult brother during taxa year 2015. Accordingly 20 we deem respondent to have conceded that petitioner 21 satisfied the other elements for claiming the dependency 22 23 24 exemption. As discussed in our findings of fact, we found that petitioner did provide more than one-half of the 25 support for his adult brother during tax year 2015. cribers (973)406-2250loperationspescribers.net|www.escribersnet Therefore petitioner is entitled to a dependency exemption 7 deduction for tax year 2015. B. Head of Household Filing Status Respondent determined that petitioner's correct filing status for tax year 2015 was single rather than head of household. Section 1 (b) provides a special tax rate for an.individual who qualifies as a head of household. As pertinent here, section 2(b) defines a head of household as an individual taxpayer who: (1) is not married at the close of the taxable year and is not a surviving spouse, and (2) maintains as his home a household that constitutes for more than one-half of the taxable year the principal place of abode, as a 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 member of such household, of (a) a qualifying child of 15 the individual (as defined in section 152(c), determined 16 without regard to section 152(e)), or (b) any other 17 18 19 person who is a dependent of the taxpayer, if the taxpayer is entitled to a deduction for the taxable year for such person under section 151. See Rowe v. 20 Commissioner, 128 T. C. 13, 16-17 (2007) . 21 Petitioner maintained as his home a household 22 that constitutes for more than one-half of the taxable 23 year the principal place of abode for his adult brother. 24 As discussed above, petitioner's adult brother qualifies 25 as his dependent for purposes of sections 151 and 152. (973)406-2250| operations@escribersmet j www.escribers.net Therefore petitioner is entitled to head of household 8 filing status for tax year 2015. III. Conclusion Accordingly, a decision will be entered for petitioner. This concludes the Court's oral findings of fact and opinion in this case. In reaching our holdings herein, we have considered all arguments made by the parties, and to the extent not mentioned above, find those arguments moot, irrelevant, or without merit. (Whereupon, at 1:50 p.m., the above-entitled matter was concluded.) 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 shes (973)406-2250|operationsøescrbersnet|www.escribersnet