Presented below is a roundup of significant tax cases from the last month. 

Tax Court

• Van Lanes Recreation Center Corp. v. Commissioner, TC Memo. 2018-92 (June 26, 2018): Judge Paris determined the IRS abused its discretion when the agency revoked a prior favorable determination letter regarding the status of the taxpayer’s employee stock ownership plan under Code section 401(a). The opinion can be found here.
• Endeavor Partners Fund, LLC v. Commissioner, TC Memo. 2018-96 (June 28, 2018): In Endeavor, Judge Lauber added to the list of decisions disallowing partnership losses due to lack of economic substance. Penalties were avoided, despite an assessment by the Court that “the partnerships’ conduct is plainly deserving” since the IRS failed to secure supervisory approval of the penalties prior to issuance of the FPAAs as required by Code section 6751(b)(1).
  • For prior Tax Controversy 360 commentary on the issue of supervisory approval in penalty cases please see: IRS Required to Obtain Supervisory Approval to Assert Penalties and Graev v. Commissioner: Tax Court Divided on Penalty Procedural Rules.
• Donald Guess v. Commissioner, TC. Memo 2018-97 (June 28, 2018): Judge Jacobs removed the guesswork from the statute of limitations questions in Guess, finding that the clearly established elements of fraud warranted an exception to the three-year limitations period, opening the door for assessments and penalties. The fraudulent activity was related to the 2001 and 2002 tax years. The taxpayer was previously convicted of two counts of filing false tax returns for those years.

Federal District Court

• Scott Logan v. United States, 2:18-cv-00099-JES-MRM (M.D. Fla. June 21, 2018): The US Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Florida recently invoked the variance doctrine to gain dismissal of two counts in an individual’s attempt to secure a refund of a $2.5 million gross valuation misstatement penalty previously assessed against him. The judgment can be found here: Logan v. United States; No. 2:18-cv-00099.

Appellate Court

• Alpenglow Botanicals, LLC v. United States, No. 17-1223 (10th Cir. July 3, 2018): The Tenth Circuit confirmed a finding that the IRS has the authority to determine if a taxpayer is engaged in trafficking of a controlled substances for purposes of denying related deductions under Code section 280E. Owners of a medical marijuana dispensary were denied refund claims that would have resulted if the expense deductions were allowed.
• Hohman v. Eadie, et al, No. 17-1869 (6th Cir. 2018): The Sixth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of claims challenging John Doe summonses seeking certain financial information for individuals and related LLCs, holding the claims are barred by sovereign immunity.