Attorney Cannot File Petition to Recover Administrative Costs under Section 7430

In Greenberg v. Commissioner, 147 T.C. No. 13 (2016), an attorney sought the award of administrative costs (i.e., his attorney’s fees) for an earlier administrative proceeding in which he represented a taxpayer before the Internal Revenue Service. The attorney was owed fees for his representation of the taxpayer that remained outstanding, and the taxpayer agreed that the attorney would receive any administrative fees awarded under Internal Revenue Code Section 7430. The US Tax Court, however, held that because the attorney was not a party to the underlying administrative proceeding, the attorney could not be a “prevailing party,” which was required for an award of administrative costs under Section 7430. As such, the attorney was not the proper party to file a petition for fees under Section 7430, and thus, the court dismissed the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.