- 17 - Stern or anyone else involved with the corporation or PTSI. Nor did he produce other credible evidence establishing that a theft loss occurred. Accordingly, petitioner has not met his burden of proof and, therefore, is not allowed a deduction under section 165(e). Issue 4. Whether Respondent Is Estopped From Asserting a Deficiency Against Petitioner Respondent issued petitioner a notice of deficiency on November 1, 2004. On December 27, 2004, respondent sent petitioner a “closing notice”, which states: “we were able to clear up the differences between your records and your payers’ records. * * * If you have already received a notice of deficiency, you may disregard it. You won’t need to file a petition with the United States Tax Court”. Respondent’s change in position raises the issue of equitable estoppel against respondent. “Equitable estoppel is a judicial doctrine that ‘precludes a party from denying his own acts or representations which induced another to act to his detriment.’” Hofstetter v. Commissioner, 98 T.C. 695, 700 (1992) (quoting Graff v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 743, 761 (1980), affd. 673 F.2d 784 (5th Cir. 1982)). To apply equitable estoppel against the Government, however, we must find, inter alia, that the claimant relied on the Government’s representations and suffered a detriment because of that reliance. See Norfolk S. Corp. v. Commissioner, 104 T.C. 13, 60 (1995), affd. 140 F.3d 240Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011