Douglass H. and Suzanne M. Bartley - Page 19

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          provide the relief he requests.  "The  proper  place  for a                 
          consideration of petitioner's complaint is the Halls of Congress,           
          not here [Tax Court]."  Hays Corp. v. Commissioner, 40 T.C. 436,            
          443 (1963), affd. 331 F.2d 422 (7th Cir. 1964).                             
               In addition, petitioners argue that taxpayers are unfairly             
          treated when the value of their home increases because of                   
          inflation.  They contend that                                               
                    The $40,140 of alleged gain is fictitious, for                    
                    the IRS gain computation assumes that the                         
                    taxpayers' 1987 purchase dollars are                              
                    equivalent to 1993 sale dollars.    If                            
                    equivalent dollars are used to compute gain                       
                    here, the $40,140 "gain" becomes a loss of                        
                    $8,397.  An income tax may not be imposed on a                    
                    loss without violating IRC � 61 and the Due                       
                    Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.                            
               Other taxpayers have raised the argument of inflation as               
          grounds for failing to report income.  We have consistently                 
          rejected this argument.  See Hellermann v. Commissioner, 77 T.C.            
          1361 (1981); Milkowski v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1981-225;                
          Downing v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1983-97.  The taxpayers in              
          Hellermann made arguments similar to those advanced by petitioners:         
          That gain from the sale of their buildings was due to inflation;            
          that their gain was nominal; and that the portion of their nominal          
          gain that was due to inflation does not constitute taxable income.          
          77 T.C. at 1362-1363.  The taxpayers therein also used the Consumer         
          Price Index to illustrate the effects of inflation and what was             
          alleged to be their nominal gain.  Id. at 1362.  Responding to that         





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