- 5 -
if the settlement may be attributable to damages received for
personal injuries or sickness as well as other damages, the
taxpayer bears the burden of establishing which portion of the
settlement is attributable to damages received for personal
injuries or sickness. Whitehead v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.
1980-508; see also Rule 142(a); Welch v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 111,
115 (1933).
Petitioner's argument resembles a cat trying to scale a
blackboard: he has nothing to set his claws into. First,
petitioner does not point to any injury or sickness that he has
suffered. Rather, he contends that, since IBM paid him for the
Release, there must have been some injury and it is for the Court
to discern the injury. While we may strive to be clairvoyant,
this is, indeed, beyond our powers. Furthermore, while wrongful
employment termination possibly may result in personal injury,
generally the amount of lost wages received in such cases is not
linked to that personal injury, and, therefore, such an award
will not qualify for the exclusion from gross income provided in
section 104(a)(2). Commissioner v. Schleier, supra at 330.
Here, there is not even a settlement for or a demonstrated
personal injury or sickness.
Second, even if we were to assume an injury or sickness,
petitioner has not shown which portion, if any, of the payment
was received in settlement of tort or tort type claims. The
Release relieves IBM from liability from some claims that are not
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011