- 22 - is not clear from that vague statement what costs petitioner incurred and is seeking to recover. Petitioner has been pro se throughout the proceedings and has not paid for the services of any attorneys. It is well settled that a taxpayer cannot recover attorney’s fees for representing herself, even if she happens to be an attorney, which petitioner is not. Frisch v. Commissioner, 87 T.C. 838 (1986). If it is living expenses for which petitioner seeks reimbursement, living expenses are not costs for which section 7430(c) allows recovery. Section 7430 does not provide for the recovery of a taxpayer’s living expenses; she would have incurred those expenses whether she was contesting her tax liability or not. Petitioner’s lack of income from a job to pay living expenses and the resulting need to borrow from her parents, the possible adverse effect of the tax lien on her credit and ability to obtain employment, identify the so-called consequential damages for which neither section 7430 nor any other relevant statutory provision allows relief. See Weiner v. IRS, 986 F.2d 12, 13 (2d Cir. 1993). Petitioner has also requested $186 for long-distance calls to respondent’s Ogden, Utah, and Phoenix, Arizona, offices, postage, photocopying, and typewriter rental costs. However, petitioner provided no receipts or other substantiation and no allocation of the total cost among the various items. Had petitioner prevailed on the “substantially justified” andPage: Previous 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Next
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