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MEMORANDUM FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION
PARR, Judge: These cases are before the Court on Laura
Austin's (petitioner) and Richard Hashimoto's (Hashimoto) motion
for administrative and litigation costs pursuant to section 7430
and Rule 231, filed on November 27, 1996.2 Neither party has
requested a hearing on petitioners' motion. Accordingly, we rule
on petitioners' motion without a hearing, based on the parties'
submissions and the existing record. Rule 232(a)(1). These
cases were consolidated for purposes of trial, briefing, and
opinion. Rule 141(a).
After concessions by the parties, the issues for decision
are: (1) Whether petitioners are the prevailing parties in the
underlying tax case within the meaning of section 7430(c)(4). We
2 Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code in
effect for the year in issue. References to section 7430 in this
opinion are to that section as amended by sec. 1551 of the Tax
Reform Act of 1986, Pub. L. 99-514, 100 Stat. 2752 (effective for
proceedings commenced after Dec. 31, 1985) and by sec. 6239(a) of
the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988, Pub. L. 100-
647, 102 Stat. 3342, 3743-3747 (effective with respect to
proceedings commenced after Nov. 10, 1988). Section 7430 was
amended most recently by the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2, Pub. L.
104-168, sec. 701, 110 Stat. 1452, 1463-1464 (1996), effective
with respect to proceedings commenced after July 30, 1996. The
amendments to the section shift to the Commissioner the burden of
proving whether the position of the United States was
substantially justified (sec. 7430(c)(4)(B)), and changed the
hourly rate for attorney's fees to $110 (sec.
7430(c)(1)(B)(iii)). A judicial proceeding is commenced in this
Court with the filing of a petition. Rule 20(a). Petitioners
filed their petition on June 3, 1994, thus these changes do not
apply here. All Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of
Practice and Procedure, unless otherwise indicated. All dollar
amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar, unless otherwise
indicated.
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