- 5 - his documents several years earlier. Shortly after trial, on January 24, 2006, petitioner filed a motion to reopen the record in order to submit evidence of his marriage.4 Respondent contends that this Court should deny petitioner’s motion because respondent had requested the evidence from petitioner, and petitioner had numerous chances to provide the evidence prior to and at trial and repeatedly refused and failed to do so. In the alternative, respondent requests that, if this Court grants petitioner’s motion, respondent be allowed additional time to subpoena petitioner’s spouse’s son to prove that petitioner’s spouse has her own income and cannot be claimed as petitioner’s dependent.5 We deny petitioner’s motion to reopen the record to admit the evidence because it is the policy of the Court to try all of the issues raised in a case in one proceeding to avoid piecemeal and protracted litigation. Haft Trust v. Commissioner, 62 T.C. 145, 147 (1974), vacated 510 F.2d 43 (1st Cir. 1975). Petitioner was given ample opportunity to 4Specifically, petitioner sought to introduce a marriage certificate and his spouse’s Social Security number. 5In petitioner’s motion he states that, because he was so angered by respondent’s refusal to accept his word as proof of his marital status, he forgot that he was able to provide the requested information. Petitioner further states that he retrieved his spouse’s Social Security number from her son who handles all her banking. Petitioner also states that his wife receives Social Security income. Respondent cites sec. 151(b) and Turner v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2004-251, for the proposition that any income petitioner’s spouse receives, however small, bars petitioner from claiming his spouse as a dependent.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011