Cassman v. United States

31 Fed. Cl. 121, 73 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1837, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 84, 1994 WL 156615
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedApril 28, 1994
DocketNo. 92-677T
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 31 Fed. Cl. 121 (Cassman v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cassman v. United States, 31 Fed. Cl. 121, 73 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1837, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 84, 1994 WL 156615 (uscfc 1994).

Opinion

OPINION

ROBINSON, Judge.

Plaintiffs, Andrea L. and Michael C. Cass-man, have brought suit under the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491 (1993), seeking a refund of $602 in taxes plus interest with respect to the 1991 tax year. Defendant opposes plaintiffs’ claim, and both parties have moved for summary judgment.

The principal issue in this proceeding is before the Court of Federal Claims for the [122]*122first time. Plaintiffs claim to be entitled to a dependent exemption for the 1991 tax year under §§ 151 and 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (I.R.C.), as amended, in respect of a child that was unborn as of the close of that year. For the reasons set forth below, the court holds that plaintiffs are not entitled to claim such an exemption. Accordingly, defendant’s motion for summary judgment will be granted, and plaintiffs’ cross-motion for summary judgment will be denied.

Factual Background

Plaintiffs are residents of Ocean Park, Florida. On or about April 22, 1992," plaintiffs submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) a Form 1040X, “Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return,” claiming, on Line 6, an exemption of $2,150, and requesting a refund of $602 with respect to taxes paid for 1991. On Line 30, where taxpayers are to’list “Dependents (children and other) not claimed on original return,” plaintiffs did not identify any dependents, but in Part II (“Explanation of Changes to Income, Deductions and Credits”) they claimed that on December 31, 1991, Mrs. Cassman was pregnant and, therefore, they were entitled to an exemption under §§ 151 and 152.

On July 24,1992, Mrs. Cassman gave birth to a son, Jonathan, and on July 29 of the same year, the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services issued a birth certificate. The date of birth indicates that Mrs. Cassman became pregnant some time in October 1991 and that Jonathan Cassman was indeed in útero as of December 31,1991.

In a letter dated August 18, 1992, the I.R.S. disallowed the refund, stating that an exemption cannot be claimed for an unborn child.

Contentions of the Parties

Plaintiffs argue that §§ 151 and 152, as written, provide a dependent exemption for a taxpayer’s child regardless of whether the child is born, and that Jonathan Cassman came within the definition of “dependent” set forth in those sections as of the moment of his conception. Defendant contends that a range of judicial, legislative, and administrative authorities demonstrates that the unborn are not included as “dependents” under §§ 151 and 152.

DISCUSSION

A. Summary Judgment.

Summary judgment is useful when there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. RCFC 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Only disputes over material facts, or facts that might significantly affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law, preclude an entry of judgment. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2509-10, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

When the parties present cross-motions for summary judgment, the court is not required to grant judgment as a matter of law for either one side or the other. Each party’s motion must be separately evaluated on its own merits, with care taken to draw all reasonable inferences against the party whose motion is under consideration. Mingus Constructors, Inc. v. United States, 812 F.2d 1387, 1391 (Fed.Cir.1987). The parties to this suit have agreed that no material facts are in dispute. The primary issue presented, which concerns the availability of a dependent exemption for an unborn child, calls for a conclusion of law, which is appropriate for resolution by summary judgment.

B. Analysis.

Section 151 allows a taxpayer to take a “personal exemption” deduction when computing taxable income. The I.R.C. allows additional deductions to be taken with respect to each “dependent” of the taxpayer, provided that the dependent’s taxable income does not exceed the exemption amount. § 151(c)(1)(A). However, if the dependent is a “child” of the taxpayer, the exemption may be taken regardless of the dependent’s income, as long as the child is under 19 years of age or, if a full-time student, under 24 § 151(c)(1)(B). The exemption amount provided by § 151 is $2,000, adjusted for inflation for tax years beginning after 1988. In [123]*1231991, the tax year at issue in this case, the exemption amount was $2,150.

Section 152 defines “dependent” for the purposes of § 151. In pertinent part, § 152 provides:

(a) General Definition — [T]he term “dependent” means any of the following individuals over half of whose support for the calendar year ... was received from the taxpayer
(1) a son or daughter of the taxpayer, or a descendant of either____

1. Judicial Precedent.

The last judicial authority to deal with the specific issue presented here was the United States Board of Tax Appeals, the predecessor of the United States Tax Court, in Wilson v. Commissioner, 41 B.T.A. 443, 1940 WL 212 (1940). The facts in that ease were virtually identical to those in the present case. The taxpayers, California residents, had sought a declaration from the Board that their daughter, during the period prior to her birth, was a “person” under I.R.C. § 25(b)(2), which was the dependent exemption provision in effect prior to the 1954 Act.1 The Board denied the relief, observing that “[t]he interpretation which petitioners suggest is so obviously strained as to merit little discussion.” Wilson, 41 B.T.A. at 457, 1940 WL 212.

Plaintiffs urge this court to disregard the precedent set by the Wilson case, arguing that the law has changed significantly since 1940. Indeed, Congress in 1944 did repeal a requirement that taxpayers prorate their dependent deduction with respect to a child when that child was born or died during the tax year. Under § 25(b) of the pre-1944 Code, taxpayers had to determine an individual’s status as a “dependent” as of July 1 of the tax year and take only half of the deduction if a child was not born or died before that date. Under the 1944 amendments and under the current § 152, a full dependent deduction may be taken even if an individual had dependent status for only part of the year. See also Treas.Reg. § 1.152-l(b) (1991). Plaintiffs suggest that this change in law reflects a change in Congress’s attitude vis-á-vis the issue of whether a child-dependent needs to be bom as a prerequisite to claiming the exemption. However, plaintiffs have pointed to nothing in the legislative history to show that Congress intended the 1944 amendment to have any effect on the question that had come before the Board of Tax Appeals in Wilson.

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31 Fed. Cl. 121, 73 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1837, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 84, 1994 WL 156615, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cassman-v-united-states-uscfc-1994.