DocketNumber: Docket No. 17874-08
Citation Numbers: 99 T.C.M. 1457, 2010 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 150, 2010 T.C. Memo. 112
Judges: HAINES
Filed Date: 5/20/2010
Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 4/18/2021
Decision will be entered under
MEMORANDUM FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION
HAINES,
FINDINGS OF FACT
Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. The stipulation of facts, together with the attached exhibits, *151 is incorporated herein by this reference. At the time she filed her petition, petitioner resided in Ohio.
Petitioner received an undergraduate degree in political science from Ohio University and a master's degree in education and higher education administration. Petitioner took courses in accounting and economics while in college. Petitioner worked as a sales representative for Abbott Laboratories, Inc., for 12.5 years, but was no longer employed there at the time of trial. After moving to Nevada in 2000, petitioner married David Jones (Mr. Jones) in 2001 and they had a daughter. Mr. Jones was employed as a pilot with Net Jets from 1999 until November 2006, when he was terminated because of a drinking problem.
Mr. Jones is a 45-percent shareholder of Hadley & Pech, Inc. (Hadley & Pech), an aviation management company that is an S corporation, and a 50-percent owner of Archipelago Aviation, LLC (Archipelago), a limited liability company that charters aircraft and is taxed as a partnership. Roger Sutton (Mr. Sutton), who was a friend of Mr. Jones', owns the remaining 55 percent of Hadley & Pech *152 and 50 percent of Archipelago. Neither entity has a written operating agreement.
Before 2006 petitioner relied on Mr. Jones to handle their household finances and to secure and submit necessary tax paperwork. Mr. Jones likewise was responsible for the financial and tax aspects of Hadley & Pech and Archipelago. However, Mr. Jones became addicted to alcohol and other substances that interfered with his responsibilities to his family and his businesses. Mr. Jones entered rehabilitation programs at the beginning of 2005 and again in September 2005. Around the time of Mr. Jones' rehabilitation in September 2005, his business partner, Mr. Sutton, seized all the records and computers of Hadley & Pech and Archipelago and took them from Nevada to Oregon, assuming full control over the financial and tax aspects of the entities.
Upon completion of rehabilitation, Mr. Jones resumed handling his family's finances until October of 2006, when his alcohol addiction required petitioner to take over. Responsibility for filing the couple's 2005 return, which was due on October 15, 2006, fell to petitioner. Petitioner was aware that Hadley & Pech and Archipelago were in operation and that Mr. Jones was *153 an owner, and she immediately contacted Mr. Sutton to obtain the 2005 Schedules K-1, Partner's [or Shareholder's] Share of Income, Deductions, Credits, etc., but he did not send them. Petitioner subsequently visited a return preparer and filed the couple's 2005 joint income tax return on October 15, 2006. Petitioner did not report any income from Hadley & Pech or Archipelago on the 2005 return.
For 2005 Hadley & Pech and Archipelago had $ 101,927 and $ 212,298 of ordinary net business income, respectively. Mr. Jones' shares of that income, as Mr. Sutton eventually reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on the Schedules K-1, were $ 45,867 and $ 106,149, respectively. Hadley & Pech's cash distributions for 2005 consisted of $ 115,000 to Mr. Sutton and $ 10,000 to Mr. Jones, while Archipelago did not make any distributions for 2005. During 2005 petitioner was aware of the cash distribution of $ 10,000 from Hadley & Pech, which was used to pay their 2004 income tax liability.
Mr. Jones' alcohol addiction led to the couple's separation on January 21, 2007. Petitioner moved back to Ohio in January of 2007 and was granted a power of attorney over Mr. Jones' financial matters. Throughout *154 2007 petitioner made numerous attempts to obtain the 2005 Schedules K-1 from Mr. Sutton, ultimately receiving them in August 2007.
On February 20, 2008, Mr. Jones and petitioner filed a complaint in Nevada against Mr. Sutton, Hadley & Pech, and Archipelago, alleging breach of contract and fraud. The suit was dismissed on June 10, 2008, as to defendants Mr. Sutton and Archipelago because of lack of personal jurisdiction, and as to Hadley & Pech because the court declined to exercise jurisdiction on the basis of the doctrine of forum non conveniens.
On April 21, 2008, respondent issued a notice of deficiency to petitioner and Mr. Jones. In the notice of deficiency respondent determined there were omissions from income for 2005 of $ 152,016 and thus a deficiency of $ 55,171 in joint income tax and an accuracy-related penalty under
Petitioner and Mr. Jones entered into a voluntary separation agreement on March 20, 2009. The separation agreement did not address Mr. Jones' obligation to pay any outstanding income tax liabilities for 2005 but stated that for 2007 petitioner and Mr. Jones would select the tax method generating the least tax liability for both and share the payment of tax equally for 2007. Petitioner filed Form 8857, Request for Innocent Spouse Relief, on March 17, 2009. A decree of dissolution of marriage was entered on May 12, 2009.
OPINION
For 2005 Hadley & Pech reported $ 101,927 in income, 45 percent, or *156 $ 45,867, of which was attributed to Mr. Jones under
Citing
In
Petitioner further claims that the 2005 Schedule K-1 she later received from Hadley & Pech is inaccurate. Thus, she claims
Archipelago is an LLC that is taxed as a partnership. For 2005, Archipelago reported ordinary net business income of $ 212,298 on its partnership return but did not make a distribution to Mr. Sutton or Mr. Jones during 2005. As a 50-percent partner, Mr. Jones is required to recognize and report $ 106,149, his share of the partnership income even though it was not distributed to the partners.
Petitioner contends that Mr. Sutton crafted an agreement with Archipelago whereby all of Archipelago's income for 2005 would be allocated solely to Mr. Sutton, and she requests that we respect that agreement. However, petitioner did not offer into evidence any such agreement between Mr. Sutton and the partnership and admits there was no written operating agreement with respect to the partnership.
Petitioner again asserts, with respect to Archipelago, that she and Mr. *160 Jones should not be required to pay the tax with respect to this entity because during 2006 Mr. Sutton purportedly caused Archipelago to "pay either to himself or one of his entities substantially all of the cash of Archipelago Aviation, LLC." Even though the year at issue in this case is 2005, petitioner asserts that during 2006 Mr. Sutton wrongfully received all of Archipelago's cash. However, petitioner provided no evidence that any of Archipelago's funds were wrongfully paid to Mr. Sutton or to another of Mr. Sutton's entities. Moreover, even if petitioner had established that funds were wrongfully withdrawn from Archipelago during 2006, this would not affect the income petitioner and Mr. Jones were obligated to report on their 2005 joint Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. *161
Generally, when a husband and wife file a joint Federal income tax return, they are jointly and severally liable for the full amount of the tax.
(A) A joint return has been made for a taxable year; (B) on such return there is an understatement of tax attributable to erroneous items of one individual filing the joint *162 return; (C) the other individual filing the joint return establishes that in signing the return he or she did not know, and had no reason to know, that there was such understatement; (D) taking into account all the facts and circumstances, it is inequitable to hold the other individual liable for the deficiency in tax for such taxable year attributable to such understatement; and (E) the other individual elects (in such form as the Secretary may prescribe) the benefits of this subsection not later than the date which is 2 years after the date the Secretary has begun collection activities with respect to the individual making the election * * *
The requesting spouse bears the burden of proving that she satisfies each of these five requirements. See
Respondent does not dispute that petitioner satisfies two elements of
The first element, in
We are not persuaded that the understatement is attributable to petitioner or that she had an interest in the entities. Petitioner's name on the Nevada complaint is not sufficient to prove that she held such an interest. Moreover, the parties' stipulations show that Mr. Jones is a 45-percent shareholder of Hadley & Pech and a 50-percent owner of Archipelago and that Mr. Sutton owns the remainder of each. Respondent *164 is bound by those stipulations. Thus, we conclude that the unreported income was attributable to entities partially owned by Mr. Jones in which petitioner had no interest, and the tax understatements resulting therefrom were attributable solely to Mr. Jones.
The second element, in
This Court has defined actual knowledge as "an actual and clear awareness (as opposed to reason to know) of the existence of an item which gives rise to the deficiency (or portion thereof)."
We must address the remaining unreported income attributable to Mr. Jones of $ 35,867 and $ 106,149 from Hadley & Pech and Archipelago, respectively. Where, as here, a taxpayer on notice that her spouse had unreported income does not know the exact amount of income, she must fulfill a duty of inquiry or risk being charged with constructive knowledge of the understatement of tax on the return.
Responsibility for filing the 2005 joint income tax return fell to petitioner only after Mr. Jones entered rehabilitation shortly before the return was due. Petitioner credibly testified regarding her extensive efforts, both before and after filing the return, to obtain the Schedules K-1 for Hadley & Pech and Archipelago from Mr. Sutton. We find petitioner acted as a reasonable person would in such circumstances and properly met her duty of inquiry. *166 Thus, petitioner did not have actual or constructive knowledge of the remaining $ 35,867 of unreported income from Hadley & Pech or the $ 106,149 from Archipelago.
Finally, we consider
Several factors weigh in petitioner's favor. First, she and Mr. Jones are no longer married or residing together. Second, petitioner was not actively involved in Hadley & Pech or Archipelago and had no knowledge or reason to know of the unreported income beyond Hadley & Pech's $ 10,000 cash distribution. Third, petitioner is in compliance with the filing of her tax returns for years after 2005. On the other hand, petitioner benefited from the omission of the income from the couple's joint return. Moreover, petitioner failed to show that she would experience economic hardship by paying the taxes owed or that Mr. Jones has a legal obligation pursuant to the separation agreement or divorce decree to pay the total outstanding income tax liabilities for 2005.
In balancing the factors, we find those in favor of relief outweigh those that count against it. On the basis of the above, we find petitioner has carried her burden of proving that it would be inequitable to hold her liable for the deficiency in tax attributable to the unreported income from Archipelago and Hadley & Pech of which she had no actual or constructive knowledge.
Petitioner further claims eligibility for relief under
Petitioner claims that to the extent she fails to qualify for relief under
Petitioner's *171 understatement of tax is $ 55,171. The understatement exceeds the greater of 10 percent of the tax required to be shown or $ 5,000. Thus, the understatement is substantial for purposes of
Petitioner argues that she made a reasonable attempt to comply with the income tax laws and did not disregard rules and regulations. Under
Petitioner testified that neither she nor Mr. Jones *172 received the 2005 Schedules K-1 from Mr. Sutton informing them of Mr. Jones' distributive share of the income of the entities until August 2007, well after the October 15, 2006, date of filing. However, "the failure to receive tax documents does not excuse taxpayers from the duty to report income."
In reaching our holdings herein, we have considered all arguments made, and, to the extent not mentioned above, *173 we conclude that they are moot, irrelevant, or without merit.
To reflect the foregoing,
1. Unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, and all Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure. Amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.↩
2. If a shareholder of an S corporation fails duly to notify the IRS of an inconsistency between her own return and that of the corporation in a situation described in
3. A taxpayer is entitled to deduct losses arising from the theft of property under
4.
Alt v. Comm'r , 119 T.C. 306 ( 2002 )
Kathryn Cheshire v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue , 282 F.3d 326 ( 2002 )
Jonson v. Commissioner , 353 F.3d 1181 ( 2003 )
Jacquelyn Hayman v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue , 992 F.2d 1256 ( 1993 )
Jonson v. Comm'r , 118 T.C. 106 ( 2002 )
Cheshire v. Commissioner , 115 T.C. 183 ( 2000 )
Burke v. Commissioner of IRS , 485 F.3d 171 ( 2007 )
United States v. Basye , 93 S. Ct. 1080 ( 1973 )