- 21 - the doctrine of collateral estoppel only forecloses relitgation of an issue previously litigated and decided in a prior suit. Id. at 326 n.5; United States v. Intl. Bldg. Co., 345 U.S. 502, 505 (1953); Meier v. Commissioner, supra at 282. In Megibow v. Commissioner, supra, this Court recently observed: From a legal standpoint, income taxes are levied on an annual basis, such that each year represents a new liability and a separate cause of action. Commissioner v. Sunnen, 333 U.S. 591, 598-600 (1948); Fla. Peach Corp. v. Commissioner, 90 T.C. [678], 682. Given this principle, collateral estoppel would not operate to establish entitlement to deductions in one year based merely on an allowance of similar deductions in a different year or years. See Barmes v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2001-155 (rejecting attempts to apply collateral estoppel to depreciation deductions based on a prior litigated tax year), affd. 89 AFTR 2d 2002-2249, 2002-1 USTC par. 50,312 (7th Cir. 2002); see also, Adolph Coors Co. v. Commissioner, 519 F.2d 1280, 1283 (10th Cir. 1975)(rejecting an attempt to apply collateral estoppel even though the exact issue was raised in a prior Tax Court proceeding but, because the Commissioner abandoned the issue during the litigation, no judicial determination or findings were made), affg. 60 T.C. 368 (1973). In a factual context, for collateral estoppel to apply, the following requirements are necessary: 1. The issue in the second suit must be identical in all respects with the one decided in the first suit. 2. There must be a final judgment rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction. 3. Collateral estoppel may be invoked against parties and their privies to the prior judgment. 4. The parties must actually have litigated the issues and the resolution of these issues must have been essential to the prior decision. 5. The controlling facts and applicable legal rules must remain unchanged from those in the prior litigation. [Peck v. Commissioner, 90 T.C.Page: Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Next
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