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Appeals for the District of Columbia. For purposes of this
paragraph, the legal residence, principal place of business,
or principal office or agency referred to herein shall be
determined as of the time the petition seeking
redetermination of tax liability was filed with the Tax
Court or as of the time the petition seeking a declaratory
decision under section 7428 or 7476, or the petition under
section 6226 or 6228(a), was filed with the Tax Court.
Section 7482(b)(1)(A) and (B) is the relevant provision for this
venue inquiry.
In estate tax cases in the Tax Court, sometimes the estate
is referred to as the petitioner and sometimes the executor is
referred to as the petitioner.4 However, this Court has never
squarely addressed whether the estate or the executor is the
petitioner or the real party in interest, or, stated another way,
whether the residence (or principal place of business) of the
executor at the time the petition is filed, or the residence of
the decedent at the time of his death, is determinative for
purposes of venue under section 7482(b)(1). That issue does not
turn upon how a case is captioned in this Court.5 Cf. Estate of
4 That sec. 7482(b)(1)(A) uses the term "petitioner" rather than
"taxpayer" is not particularly relevant to our inquiry. Various
provisions of the Internal Revenue Code refer to "the taxpayer"
whether in the context of deficiency cases in the Tax Court (sec.
6212--notice of deficiency; sec. 6213--restrictions applicable to
deficiencies; petition to Tax Court) or in the context of tax
refund cases in the U.S. District Courts (sec. 7422--civil
actions for refund). However, when it comes to venue provisions,
sec. 7482(b)(1)(A) uses the term "petitioner" for the party
filing a deficiency case in the Tax Court, and 28 U.S.C. sec.
1402(a)(1) (1994) uses the term "plaintiff" for the party filing
a tax refund suit.
5 Rule 23(a)(1) provides that "The name of an estate or trust or
other person for whom a fiduciary acts shall precede the
fiduciary's name and title, as for example 'Estate of Mary Doe,
(continued...)
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