Don Evan and Vicky Kay Whitinger - Page 4

                                        - 3 -                                         
          income tax was determined.3  Petitioners timely petitioned this             
          Court in response to that notice, and in due course, respondent             
          assigned the case to Appeals Officer Jeffery L. Sherrill (Mr.               
          Sherrill) for settlement purposes.                                          
               On August 1, 2003, after reaching a proposed settlement with           
          Mr. Sherrill as to the 1999 deficiency, petitioners received a              
          letter from respondent’s Appeals Office that stated the proposed            
          settlement was “reflected in the [attached] stipulated-decision             
          document” that ultimately would be submitted to the Court.  The             
          letter also stated that “If there is an amount due as a result of           
          this settlement, it would be to your advantage to pay the full              
          amount now.”  The letter contains no reference to petitioners’              
          then-outstanding 1999 tax liability that had been previously                
          assessed based upon the amount of tax reported on their 1999                
          return.  On August 20, 2003, a stipulated decision reflecting a             
          $363 deficiency in petitioners’ 1999 Federal income tax was                 
          entered in petitioners’ deficiency case.                                    
               Following the entry of decision by the Court, petitioners              
          remitted a payment of $363 to respondent with respect to the 1999           
          deficiency.  According to petitioners, Mr. Sherrill led them to             
          believe that their 1999 tax liability would be fully satisfied by           
          this payment.                                                               



               3  The deficiency resulted from petitioners’ failure to                
          report certain gambling income.                                             




Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  Next

Last modified: May 25, 2011