- 14 -
administrative or litigation costs to the extent that petitioner
unreasonably protracted the proceedings in this case. Respondent
points primarily to the number and length of the motions that
petitioner filed with the Court.
Although most of petitioner’s submissions to the Court were
verbose, we note that petitioner is not a lawyer and he was
acting pro se in this matter. Considering all the circumstances,
we reject the assertion that petitioner unreasonably protracted
the proceedings within the meaning of section 7430(b)(3). See,
e.g., Mearkle v. Commissioner, 90 T.C. 1256 (1988).
C. Administrative and Litigation Costs Associated With Criminal
Proceedings
Respondent contends that petitioner is not entitled to
administrative or litigation costs associated with the criminal
investigation and petitioner’s subsequent indictment. We agree.
Section 7430 permits an award of reasonable administrative
costs incurred in connection with an administrative proceeding
within the IRS and reasonable litigation costs incurred in
connection with a court proceeding. Section 7430(c)(6) defines
the term “court proceeding” to mean any civil action.
Accordingly, petitioner is barred in this action from claiming
litigation costs associated with the criminal proceedings brought
against him. Similarly, the flush language of section 7430(c)(2)
limits the term “reasonable administrative costs” to costs
incurred on or after the earlier of the taxpayer’s receipt of a
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011