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primarily attributable to his determination that petitioner’s tax
home was in Century City, California, rather than in Orland Park,
Illinois, as petitioners asserted. In Mitchell v. Commissioner,
T.C. Memo. 1999-283, we held that petitioner’s tax home was in
Orland Park, Illinois, and, accordingly, that petitioners were
not liable for the resulting deficiencies or accuracy-related
penalties. Petitioners filed the instant motion with the Court
shortly thereafter.
Discussion
We may grant petitioners’ motion if they meet the statutory
requirements for an award of litigation costs. See sec. 7430(b)
and (c). The parties agree that petitioners meet those
requirements if, and to the extent that, respondent's positions
in this proceeding were not substantially justified. Respondent
advanced two positions in this case, one as to the situs of
petitioner’s tax home and the other as to the applicability of
the accuracy-related penalties. We may award litigation costs to
petitioners to the extent that either of those positions was not
substantially justified; i.e., it did not have a reasonable basis
in law and fact. See Pierce v. Underwood, 487 U.S. 552, 563-565
(1988); Swanson v. Commissioner, 106 T.C. 76, 86 (1996). We test
the justification for each position independently. See Foothill
Ranch Co. Partnership v. Commissioner, 110 T.C. 94, 97 (1998);
Swanson v. Commissioner, supra at 92, 97.
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