Dovid and Marcia L. Goldfarb - Page 9

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          T.C. 695, 700 (1992).  It is well settled, however, that the                
          Commissioner cannot be estopped from correcting a mistake of law,           
          even where a taxpayer may have relied to his detriment on that              
          mistake.  Norfolk S. Corp. v. Commissioner, 104 T.C. 13, 59-60              
          (1995), affd. 140 F.3d 240 (4th Cir. 1998).  An exception exists            
          only in the rare case where a taxpayer can prove he or she would            
          suffer an unconscionable injury because of that reliance.                   
               The following conditions must be satisfied before equitable            
          estoppel will be applied against the Government:  (1) A false               
          representation or wrongful, misleading silence by the party                 
          against whom the opposing party seeks to invoke the doctrine; (2)           
          an error in a statement of fact and not in an opinion or                    
          statement of law; (3) ignorance of the true facts; (4) reasonable           
          reliance on the acts or statements of the one against whom                  
          estoppel is claimed; and (5) adverse effects of the acts or                 
          statements of the one against whom estoppel is claimed.  Id.                
               Even if respondent did not adjust petitioners’ prior tax               
          returns, respondent is not precluded from asserting a deficiency            
          with respect to the Social Security benefits for 2003.  Each                
          taxable year stands on its own, and the Commissioner may                    
          challenge in a succeeding year what was overlooked in previous              
          years.  See, e.g., Rose v. Commissioner, 55 T.C. 28, 31-32                  
          (1970); Blodgett v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2003-212, affd. 394            
          F.3d 1030 (8th Cir. 2005).  Petitioners have not shown that they            






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