- 5 - petitioner did not differentiate between which portion of the alleged $5,000 in costs was incurred as administrative costs and which portion was incurred as litigation costs. See Rule 231(d). Under section 7430(a), a "prevailing party" may be awarded reasonable administrative and litigation costs. Sher v. Commissioner, 861 F.2d 131, 133 (5th Cir. 1988), affg. 89 T.C. 79 (1987); Miller v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1993-346. To qualify as a prevailing party, however, the taxpayer must establish that respondent's position was not substantially justified. Sec. 7430(c)(4)(A)(i); Comer Family Equity Pure Trust v. Commissioner, 958 F.2d 136, 139 (6th Cir. 1992), affg. per curiam T.C. Memo. 1990-316. Whether respondent's position was substantially justified depends upon whether respondent's position was unreasonable in light of all the facts and circumstances of the case and in light of legal precedents. Whitesell v. Commissioner, 90 T.C. 702, 707 (1988); Chandler v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1993-72. Generally, respondent's concession of all or part of a case is not by itself sufficient to establish that respondent's position was unreasonable. Sokol v. Commissioner, 92 T.C. 760, 767 (1989); Wasie v. Commissioner, 86 T.C. 962, 968-969 (1986). The taxpayer must also establish that the taxpayer exhausted available administrative remedies within the Internal Revenue Service, sec. 7430(b)(1); that the taxpayer did not unreasonably protract the proceedings, sec. 7430(b)(4); and that the fees andPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011