D. Kahl v. Dept. of Rev.

Oregon Tax Court·Decided July 2, 2026·No. TC-MD 230011R·Unpublished

Opinion

IN THE OREGON TAX COURT

MAGISTRATE DIVISION

Income Tax

DANIEL KAHL, )

)

Plaintiff, ) TC-MD 230011R )

v. )

)

DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, ) State of Oregon, )

)

Defendant. ) DECISION

Plaintiff appealed Defendant’s Notice of Deficiency Assessments dated October 11, 2022, for the 2015 and 2016 tax years. In its amended Answer, Defendant sought to increase the deficiencies for both years based on revised analyses prepared after discovery.

Based on some common business ownership interests, a joint trial was held with Nidal Kahl and Panayiota Kahl v. Department of Revenue, TC-MD 230009R, and Edward Kahl v. Department of Revenue, TC-MD 230010R. Trial was held in the courtroom of the Oregon Tax Court from January 27, 2025, through January 31, 2025, and on February 5, 2025. Plaintiff did not appear for trial as scheduled.1 The court scheduled an additional trial date on May 20, 2025, so that Defendant could present evidence supporting the increased deficiency asserted in its Amended Answer. Plaintiff did not appear for the continued trial date, and thus the trial consisted of Defendant’s evidence plus cross-examination of its witness.

Hertsel Shadian, Attorney at Law, represented Nidal and Panayiota Kahl, and co-

represented Plaintiff. Shawn Bargouti, Certified Public Accountant, represented Edward Kahl and co-represented Plaintiff. Plaintiffs also called Defendant’s auditor, Michelle Warren

1 In this Decision, Plaintiff used singularly refers to Daniel Kahl, and Plaintiffs used plurally refers to Daniel Kahl, Nidal Kahl, Panayiota Kahl, and Edward Kahl.

DECISION TC-MD 230011R 1

(Warren), as an adverse witness. Patrick Rieder and Sam Zeigler, Assistant Attorneys General, represented Defendant and called Warren as a witness. Plaintiffs’ Exhibits PE 1 to PE 3763 and PR 1 to PR 13 were admitted into evidence. Defendant’s Exhibits DE 1 to DE 3294 and DR 1 to DR 19 were admitted into evidence. Per stipulation of the parties, the court will not consider the additional commentary contained in the rebuttal exhibits and will only focus on the numbers contained therein.

I. INTRODUCTION

These consolidated appeals arise from related business activities involving members of the Kahl family. Although the cases were tried together due to overlapping ownership interests and shared evidentiary issues, this appeal concerns a narrower set of activities attributable to Plaintiff, plus some alleged income and losses from ownership interests in his family’s business entities. As a result, much of the evidence concerning the Kahl family business pass-through issues appear in the related cases.

Notwithstanding the more limited scope of Plaintiff’s activities, the court encountered the same fundamental difficulties present across the consolidated matters: Plaintiffs’ records were incomplete, disorganized, and, in many instances, reconstructed after-the-fact. Prior to trial, the court determined that Defendant’s spreadsheets would serve as the foundational reference materials for the evidentiary phase of the proceedings. Accordingly, the court conditioned the admission of Plaintiffs’ exhibits on the use of those spreadsheets as the analytical baseline for organizing the evidence.2

2 The court conditioned admission of Plaintiffs’ exhibits pursuant to ORS 305.501(4) (statutory or technical rules of evidence are not required in the Magistrate Division) and Reed v. Dept. of Rev., 310 Or 260, 270, 798 P2d 235 (1990) (Peterson, J., concurring) (the Tax Court can require a taxpayer “to put the evidence into some minimally coherent form before” its admission).

DECISION TC-MD 230011R 2

II. STATEMENT OF FACTS

This case concerns the income and expenses reported by, or attributed to, Plaintiff for the 2015 and 2016 tax years. In addition to wage income, Plaintiff reported or was attributed income, losses, and deductions connected to several closely held entities in which members of the Kahl family held interests. The principal disputed adjustments are: Defendant’s bank deposit analysis for 2015 and 2016, the 2015 and 2016 capital gain determinations, 2016 imputation of pass-through income from Dancing Zorba, and the 2016 flow-through income from Biogen, Celebrity Tan, and Kahl & Co.

Warren is a Manager I with the Oregon Department of Revenue and has worked as an auditor for approximately seventeen years. She became involved in this matter as part of Defendant’s filing enforcement efforts after Plaintiff failed to file Oregon income tax returns for 2015 and 2016. (See also Notice and Demand to File for 2015, DE 636, and for 2016, DE 729.) Defendant later received those returns, conducted an audit, and determined a deficiency. Plaintiff requested a conference and then appealed to this court. During the pendency of this appeal, Warren reviewed additional documents produced in discovery, which were not available to the auditor or conference officer. She prepared spreadsheets and summary workbooks analyzing Plaintiff’s reported income, expenses, and income attributed from related pass-through entities. That review led Defendant to revise and increase certain adjustments from the audit and conference positions.

Warren testified that Plaintiff held ownership interests in multiple pass-through entities during the tax years at issue, including Celebrity Tan, Biogen, Kahl & Co., Kahl Properties, and Dancing Zorba. (See also DE 626-629.) ///

DECISION TC-MD 230011R 3

A. 2015 Tax Year For the 2015 tax year, the principal disputed adjustments concern Defendant’s bank deposit analysis and its determination that Plaintiff realized unreported capital gain income. (DE 678.)

1. 2015 Bank deposit analysis For the 2015 tax year, Warren used a bank deposit analysis to determine whether Plaintiff had unreported income. She described that method as listing all deposits reflected on his bank statements, classifying deposits where possible, treating unidentified deposits as unknown, and then comparing the results to Plaintiff’s return. The materials used for the 2015 analysis included bank statements produced during the audit, together with additional bank statements and deposit information later obtained by subpoena during discovery. Warren’s review of Plaintiff’s bank deposit analysis was summarized in Defendant’s 2015 Workbook. (DR 6.)

Warren testified that Plaintiff was given opportunities during discovery to explain unidentified deposits. She further testified that, during the audit and conference stages, Defendant did not yet have sufficient information to complete a full 2015 bank deposit analysis. That analysis was completed only after subpoenaed bank records and additional deposit information were obtained during discovery. As a result, no “other income” adjustment appeared at the audit or conference stages.

On cross-examination, Warren acknowledged that Plaintiff’s 2015 return included a Schedule E reporting rental income. She testified, however, that she could not determine whether the unidentified deposits represented rent payments because she had not received rental agreements or other records showing recurring rent amounts or payment patterns. ///

DECISION TC-MD 230011R 4

Based on the 2015 bank deposit analysis, Defendant increased Plaintiff’s “other income”

from $0 at audit and conference to $23,591. (Summary of Adj, 2015 DK, line E14.)

2. 2015 Capital gain Warren testified that the 2015 capital gain worksheet was separate from the bank deposit analysis and was prepared to determine whether Plaintiff had received distributions, or those that could be imputed to him, from Kahl family businesses in excess of basis that would be taxable as capital gain. Warren’s worksheets on this issue were drawn from Kahl Properties’ books, including member draw accounts and note-payment entries, which Defendant treated as distributions reflected on the books.

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Related

Reed v. Department of Revenue
798 P.2d 235 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1990)
Brenner v. Department of Revenue
9 Or. Tax 299 (Oregon Tax Court, 1983)