- 3 - 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.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011