- 9 - taxpayer from the acts or statements of the one against whom estoppel is claimed. Norfolk S. Corp. v. Commissioner, 104 T.C. 13, 60 (1995), affd. 140 F.3d 240 (4th Cir. 1998). If any one of these elements is not present, equitable estoppel is not appropriate. As discussed below, we sustain respondent’s determinations to proceed with the proposed levy action because equitable estoppel is not appropriate in these cases. Estoppel requires a finding that the taxpayer relied on the Government’s representations and suffered a detriment because of that reliance. Id. Regardless of the designation of the payment, petitioners paid $1,000 per month on tax liabilities that they were legally obligated to pay. Making payments on a legally due tax does not constitute detrimental reliance. Hudock v. Commissioner, 65 T.C. 351, 364 (1975). Further, each monthly payment voucher enclosed with petitioners’ payments listed “CIV PEN 06-30-84", indicating that each payment was going toward the TFRP liabilities. Regardless of whether petitioners disputed the TFRP liabilities, petitioners were aware that each monthly payment was being applied to the TFRP liabilities by their attachment of the designated payment voucher to each payment. See Estate of Baumgardner v. Commissioner, 85 T.C. 445, 460 (1985) (holding that respondent properly allocated payments because the taxpayer received billsPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011