George E. Joseph v. Commissioner

2020 T.C. Memo. 65
United States Tax Court·Decided May 19, 2020·No. 27759-15·Unpublished

Opinion

T.C. Memo. 2020-65

UNITED STATES TAX COURT

GEORGE E. JOSEPH, Petitioner v.

COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent

Docket No. 27759-15. Filed May 19, 2020.

R issued a notice of deficiency for P's 2011, 2012, and 2013 taxable years on the basis of substitutes for returns (SFRs) prepared under I.R.C. sec. 6020(b)(1). Thereafter, P filed or otherwise provided R with returns for those years in which he claimed deductions from partnerships and S corporations. The parties executed a stipulation of settled issues in which P agreed that he had recognizable capital gain and other income for the years in issue in excess of the amounts taken into account in the SFRs. R amended his answer to reflect those concessions. With few exceptions, R did not allow the deductions P claimed from his partnerships and S corporations. The documentation P submitted to substantiate those deductions consisted primarily of general ledgers and the bank statements from which they were prepared.

P argues that the parties' stipulation regarding his capital gain should be modified or set aside because of R's disallowance of depreciation that, he says, reduced the basis of the property whose sale gave rise to the gain.

[*2] Held: Justice requires modification of the parties' capital gain stipulation to eliminate a manifest double counting of income but does not require any adjustment of the stipulated capital gain to reflect R's disallowance of deductions for depreciation. See Rule 91(e).

Held, further, if the bank statements and general ledger establish a plausible, though not fully substantiated, connection between an expense reported by one of P's business entities and that entity's business, a portion of the expense is deductible under Cohan v. Commissioner, 39 F.2d 540 (2d Cir. 1930).

Held, further, P is subject to self-employment tax on his income from one of the partnerships for 2012 and 2013 because he did not establish that the entity was a limited partnership of which he was a limited partner and thus did not demonstrate his entitlement to the exclusion provided in I.R.C. sec. 1402(a)(13).

Held, further, R's determination of additions to tax under I.R.C.

sec. 6651(a)(1) for failure to file timely returns is sustained.

Gregory W. Mitchell, for petitioner.

Vivian Bodey and Michael S. Navarro, for respondent.

MEMORANDUM FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION

HALPERN, Judge: Respondent determined a deficiency of $396,170 in petitioner's Federal income tax for his taxable year ended December 31, 2011, and additions to tax under sections 6651(a)(1) and 6654 of $89,138 and $7,843,

[*3] respectively.1 Respondent also determined an addition to tax under section 6651(a)(2) for that year in an amount to be computed at a later date. The same notice of deficiency states respondent's determination of deficiencies for petitioner's 2012 and 2013 taxable years and additions to tax for each of those years under sections 6651(a)(1) and (2) and 6654. In a stipulation of settled issues, petitioner agreed that he had earned income for each of the years in issue in excess of the amounts respondent took into account in determining the deficiencies stated in the notice of deficiency. Accordingly, respondent amended his answer to assert increased deficiencies and additions to tax for 2012 and 2013. (Because the effect of the increased income for 2011 to which petitioner agreed in the stipulation of settled issues was offset by deductions and losses that respondent conceded in that stipulation, respondent did not assert in his amended answer increased deficiencies or additions to tax for that year.) In particular, respondent's amended answer asserts a deficiency of $366,389 for 2012 and additions to tax under sections 6651(a)(1) and (2) and 6554 of $82,438, $91,597, and $6,568, respectively. For 2013, the amended answer asserts a deficiency of

1 All section references are to the Internal Revenue Code in effect for the years in issue, and all Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure, unless otherwise indicated. We round all dollar amounts to the nearest dollar.

[*4] $623,290 and additions to tax under sections 6651(a)(1) and (2) and 6654 of $140,240, $149,590, and $11,191, respectively. We must decide whether petitioner: (1) is bound by stipulations of the amount of his capital gain for 2013; (2) adequately substantiated deductions shown on returns of partnerships and S corporations that he claims should reduce his income from those entities; (3) adequately substantiated itemized deductions and other losses and deductions shown on his own returns; (4) is subject to self-employment tax on his share of the income of Greenville Ave Surgical Partners, LP (GASP), for 2012 and 2013; and (5) is liable for additions to tax for the years in issue under section 6651(a)(1).

FINDINGS OF FACT

Petitioner's Business Entities During the years in issue, petitioner owned a 100% interest in each of two entities that the parties agree were "S corporations" for Federal income tax purposes as a result of elections filed under section 1362(a). Through one of those entities, Eye Surgery of Texas, P.A. (ESOT), petitioner conducted a general ophthalmology practice involving procedures covered by Medicare and other forms of third-party reimbursement, such as treatment for cataracts and glaucoma and the provision of corneal transplants. During 2011 and part of 2012, petitioner

[*5] used the second entity, George Joseph MD, PA (GJ MD, PA), to perform refractive surgeries on behalf of the LASIK Vision Institute (LVI).

Petitioner also owned a 99% interest in Pemberly Partners, Ltd. (Pemberly).

G.E. Joseph, LLC (GEJ, LLC), owned the remaining 1% interest in Pemberly. The parties agree that Pemberly and GEJ, LLC were both classified as partnerships for Federal income tax purposes. Petitioner owned a 99% interest in GEJ, LLC and ESOT owned the remaining 1%. Pemberly had been formed to manage real property in Plano, Texas, on which petitioner hoped to develop a surgical center.

Petitioner also owned a 99% interest in GASP. Greenville Ave GP, LLC (Greenville GP), owned the remaining 1% of GASP. The parties agree that GASP and Greenville GP were both classified as partnerships for Federal income tax purposes. Petitioner owned 99% of Greenville GP and ESOT owned the remaining 1%. GASP was originally intended to operate the surgical center planned for the Plano property. When those plans were not realized, petitioner moved his work on behalf of LVI from GJ MD, PA to GASP.

Throughout 2013, petitioner owned a 100% interest in North Texas Eye & Facial Spec, PLLC (NTEF), another entity that the parties agree was an S corporation. During that year, petitioner moved his general ophthalmology practice from ESOT to NTEF.

[*6] The Notice of Deficiency When respondent issued the notice of deficiency in July 2015, petitioner had not filed a personal Federal income tax return for any of the years in issue. Accordingly, respondent based the notice of deficiency on substitutes for returns prepared under section 6020(b)(1).2 Respondent contends that he relied on analyses of petitioner's bank deposits to determine his taxable income. Among other things, the notice of deficiency determined that petitioner was liable for self- employment tax for each of the years in issue. The Petition The petition originally filed in this case did not assign error to any of the specific determinations reflected in the notice of deficiency. Cf. Rule 34(b)(4) (providing that a petition must contain "[c]lear and concise assignments of each and every error which the petitioner alleges to have been committed by the Commissioner in the determination of the deficiency"). Instead, the petition acknowledged petitioner's failure to have filed timely returns for the years in issue but claimed that he had recently done so and that the amounts reflected in those

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