Connors v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

277 F. App'x 122
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedMay 15, 2008
DocketNo. 07-2142-ag
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 277 F. App'x 122 (Connors v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Connors v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 277 F. App'x 122 (2d Cir. 2008).

Opinion

SUMMARY ORDER

Cliff Connors appeals from a February 13, 2007 decision of the Tax Court (Cohen, J.) finding that Connors owed a tax deficiency for 2002 and owed additions to that deficiency for failure to file a tax return and failure to pay tax. We assume the parties’ familiarity with the facts and procedural history of the case.

Connors asserts five main arguments on appeal: (1) the Tax Court should have shifted the burden of proof to the government pursuant to Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) § 7491(a); (2) the Tax Court should have granted Connors’s motion for a continuance so that he could prepare for, and appear at, trial; (3) the Tax Court erred in finding that Connors owes the deficiency; (4) the Tax Court should have considered Connors’s eligibility for certain deductions, exemptions, and credits; and (5) the Tax Court erred in finding that Connors owes the additions. For the reasons stated below, we conclude that all of Connors’s arguments lack merit and that the Tax Court did not err in its determinations.

First, Connors argues that he produced “ample proof” of his position before the Tax Court and thus the burden to prove the tax deficiency shifted to the government under IRC § 7491(a). Section 7491(a)(1) provides that if “a taxpayer introduces credible evidence with respect to any factual issue relevant to ascertaining the liability of the taxpayer for any tax imposed by subtitle A or B, the Secretary shall have the burden of proof with respect to such issue.” That paragraph applies only if “the taxpayer has complied with the requirements under this title to substantiate any item” and “the taxpayer has maintained all records required under this title and has cooperated with reasonable requests by the Secretary for witnesses, information, documents, meetings, and interviews.” IRC § 7491(a)(2)(A)-(B). We review the Tax Court’s legal conclusions de novo and its factual determinations for clear error. See Thompson v. Comm’r, 499 F.3d 129, 134 (2d Cir.2007). The Tax Court concluded that Connors “failed to maintain adequate records or to produce credible evidence” and therefore § 7491(a) did not shift the burden of proof to the government. Connors has failed to provide credible evidence throughout this case, and even if his evidence can be characterized as “credible,” he did not cooperate with reasonable requests for information and documents, as he did not timely respond to the requests for admission, requests for production of documents, and interrogatories. The Tax Court’s finding that Connors failed to meet the prerequisites under § 7491(a)(2) was not clearly [124]*124erroneous; there was no basis, therefore, to shift the burden of proof to the government.

Connors argues that he should have been given more time to prepare for trial and the opportunity to be at trial because he was in China at the time. In essence, he argues that his motion for a continuance should have been granted. We review the Tax Court’s application of its own procedural rules for abuse of discretion. Moretti v. Comm’r, 77 F.3d 637, 642 (2d Cir.1996). The Tax Court denied Connors’s motion for a continuance because he was “already in default of discovery obligations and because the Court was not persuaded that petitioner could not or should not be present at trial.” Connors was given notice five months before trial, and that notice included the Tax Court’s stated policy that continuances would only be granted in exceptional circumstances. Connors, both in his motion papers before the Tax Court and in his brief to this Court, has failed to allege that there were exceptional circumstances warranting a continuance. The Tax Court, moreover, was well within its discretion to refuse a continuance where Connors was already in default of discovery obligations.

Third, Connors argues that he does not owe the assessed tax deficiency because (1) he did not receive the full amount of the settlement from the lawsuit with Connecticut General; and (2) the amounts he did receive in disability benefits are not taxable. As to the first claim, he argues that law firm Quadrino & Schwartz got much of the settlement money for its contingency fee and that the part of the settlement attributable to the contingency fee should not be counted as income to him for purposes of tax liability. In response to this argument, the Tax Court cited the Supreme Court’s decision in Commissioner v. Banks, 543 U.S. 426, 125 S.Ct. 826, 160 L.Ed.2d 859 (2005), which held that contingent fees are taxable as income when the recovery itself constitutes taxable income. Because the settlement itself constitutes taxable income for the reasons stated below, the portion of the settlement paid to the law firm for contingent fees is also included in taxable income.

As to the second aspect of his opposition to the deficiency assessment, Connors argues that the part of the settlement he did receive, along with the other disability benefit payments made to him in 2002, do not constitute taxable income because those amounts fall under exclusions found at IRC § 105 and § 104(a)(3). IRC § 61(a) defines gross income as “all income from whatever source derived.” “The definition extends broadly to all economic gains not otherwise exempted.” Banks, 543 U.S. at 433, 125 S.Ct. 826. IRC § 105(a) provides that “amounts received by an employee through accident or health insurance for personal injuries or sickness shall be included in gross income to the extent such amounts (1) are attributable to contributions by the employer which were not includible in the gross income of the employee, or (2) are paid by the employer.” Section 105© instructs that gross income does not include amounts referred to in § 105(a) to the extent that those amounts “(1) constitute payment for the permanent loss or loss of use of a member or function of the body ... and (2) are computed with reference to the nature of the injury without regard to the period the employee is absent from work.” Finally, IRC § 104(a)(3) excludes from gross income “amounts received through accident or health insurance ... for personal injuries or sickness (other than amounts i*eceived by an employee, to the extent such amounts (A) are attributable to contributions by the employer which were not in-[125]*125cludible in the gross income of the employee, or (B) are paid by the employer).”

The Tax Court concluded that the disability benefits paid to Connors in 2002 were includible in gross income because they were not otherwise excludable. As to § 105(a) and § 104(a)(3), the court explained that benefits received could be excluded if Connors had paid the premiums for the disability insurance or if his employer paid the premiums and those premiums were includible in his gross income. As to Connors’s argument that he paid the premiums, the Tax Court considered evidence to the contrary, including the policy itself, which indicated that his employer paid the premiums, and Connors’s own deemed admission that he had paid no premiums toward his insurance policy, to conclude that Connors had not paid the premiums. As to § 105(c), the Tax Court found that the payments made were based on Connors’s monthly earnings at the time he was rendered disabled and thus not computed with reference to the nature of the injury as required for the exclusion under § 105(c).

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Bluebook (online)
277 F. App'x 122, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/connors-v-commissioner-of-internal-revenue-ca2-2008.