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the attorney. Respondent refers us to three memorandum opinions
of this Court that have held that mileage and parking costs
incurred by pro se taxpayers are not expenses which qualify as
recoverable litigation costs under section 7430(c)(1). Petito v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2002-271 (mileage and parking fees
denied); Mason v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1998-400 (mileage
denied); Buck v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1993-16 (mileage and
parking fees denied).
None of these memorandum opinions that deal with pro se
taxpayers, however, elaborates at any length on its rationale for
excluding out-of-pocket costs for mileage and parking fees from
the general definition of litigation costs under section
7430(c)(1), and memorandum opinions of this Court are not
regarded as binding precedent. Nico v. Commissioner, 67 T.C.
647, 654 (1977), revd. in part on other grounds 565 F.2d 1234 (2d
Cir. 1977).
We note that respondent’s argument (that petitioners are not
entitled to recover out-of-pocket costs such as mileage and
parking fees because they are not enumerated under section
7430(c)(1)(A) through (B)(iii)) is inconsistent with respondent’s
concession herein that petitioners are entitled to recover $35.06
in substantiated, out-of-pocket postage and delivery costs, which
also are not enumerated in section 7430(c)(1)(A) through
(B)(iii).
We also note that Federal courts interpreting other
attorney’s fee award statutes generally have allowed pro se
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