Meruelo v. Comm'r

132 T.C. No. 18, 132 T.C. 355, 2009 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 16
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedJune 9, 2009
DocketNo. 624-04
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 132 T.C. No. 18 (Meruelo v. Comm'r) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Meruelo v. Comm'r, 132 T.C. No. 18, 132 T.C. 355, 2009 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 16 (tax 2009).

Opinion

OPINION

Vasquez, Judge:

Petitioners move the Court to dismiss this case for lack of jurisdiction. Petitioners petitioned the Court to redetermine respondent’s determination of a $1,581,293 deficiency in petitioners’ Federal income tax for 1999 and a $632,517 accuracy-related penalty under section 6662(h) (or alternatively a lesser accuracy-related penalty under section 6662(a)).1 Respondent included that determination in a notice of deficiency (nod) that reflects respondent’s disallowance of a $4,538,844 loss that petitioners claimed as a deduction. The loss stemmed from petitioner Alex Meruelo’s ownership interest in Meruelo Capital Management, llc (mcm), his single-member limited liability company, and in turn MCM’s ownership interest in Intervest Financial, LLC (Intervest), an entity subject to the unified audit and litigation procedures of the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA), Pub. L. 97-248, sec. 401, 96 Stat. 648.2 Respondent disallowed the loss because, inter alia, petitioners failed to establish that the Code did not limit or disallow any deduction as to the loss. (Respondent has since clarified that two provisions limiting or disallowing the loss are sections 465 and 704(d).) Respondent also determined in the NOD that petitioners were liable for an accuracy-related penalty under section 6662 with respect to their reporting of the deduction of the loss.

Petitioners argue that the Court lacks jurisdiction because the NOD was issued prematurely and is invalid. Such is so, petitioners argue, because the deficiency and the accuracy-related penalties are or are attributable to affected items of Intervest, and respondent as of the time the NOD was issued had neither issued a notice of final partnership administrative adjustment (fpaa) to Intervest for 1999 nor accepted Intervest’s return for 1999 as filed. Even if the NOD was not issued prematurely, petitioners argue alternatively, the Court lacks jurisdiction because the affected items set forth in the NOD are not in fact affected items.

We disagree with petitioners on both points. We hold that the NOD was not issued prematurely and that the affected items set forth in the NOD are affected items that require determinations at the partner level. We hold that we have jurisdiction, and we will deny petitioners’ motion asserting to the contrary.

Background

I. Petitioners

Petitioners are husband and wife. They filed a joint Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, for 1999 on or about October 16, 2000. They resided in California when they filed their petition with the Court.

II. MCM

MCM was a limited liability company whose only member was Alex Meruelo (Mr. Meruelo). During 1999 MCM owned a 31.68-percent interest in Intervest, a Delaware limited liability company. MCM did not file a Federal tax return for 1999. For 1999, MCM was (by default) a disregarded entity for Federal tax purposes because MCM did not file a Form 8832, Entity Classification Election, electing to be treated as a corporation for that year.

III. Intervest

A. Identity of Intervest’s Other Members '

Intervest had four members in addition to MCM: Ewing Capital Management, LLC; Markerston Shield, LLC; Manchester Overseas, LLC; and New Day, S.A. Ewing Capital Management, LLC, and Markerston Shield, LLC, were Delaware limited liability companies, and their respective ownership interests in Intervest were 35.64 percent and 24.75 percent. Manchester Overseas, LLC, was a Nevis limited liability company, and it owned a 6.93-percent interest in Intervest. New Day, S.A., was a Bahamian corporation, and it owned a 1-percent interest in Intervest.

B. Intervest’s Form 1065 for 1999

Intervest filed a Form 1065, U.S. Partnership Return of Income, for 1999. The return was filed on October 14, 2000. The return covered Intervest’s initial taxable year beginning on December 13 and ending on December 31, 1999.

Intervest’s return for 1999 reported that Intervest incurred a $14,327,160 ordinary loss from engaging in foreign currency transactions. Intervest issued MCM a Schedule K — 1, Partner’s Share of Income, Credits, Deductions, etc., for 1999 that reported an ordinary loss of $4,538,844 as a passthrough item from Intervest to MCM. Intervest’s return reported that MCM was a “member” of Intervest. Intervest’s return did not indicate that MCM was a single-member limited liability company, that MCM was a disregarded entity, or that Mr. Meruelo (rather than MCM) was actually Intervest’s member for 1999 for Federal tax purposes.

IV. Petitioners’ Tax Return

On their Form 1040 for 1999, petitioners claimed the $4,538,844 loss as a passthrough item from MCM. The return did not identify Intervest, nor did the return state that Intervest was the source of the loss.3 The return reported that MCM was a partnership. The return did not indicate that MCM was a single-member limited liability company, that MCM was a disregarded entity, or that Mr. Meruelo (rather than MCM) was actually Intervest’s member for 1999 for Federal tax purposes.

V. The NOD

Respondent failed to obtain from petitioners for 1999 a Form 872-1, Consent to Extend the Time to Assess Tax As Well As Tax Attributable to Items of a Partnership. On October 10, 2003, shortly before the expiration of the normal period of limitations for assessing tax as to petitioners’ 1999 taxable year, which coincided with the expiration of the normal period of limitations for assessing tax attributable to partnership and affected items from Intervest’s 1999 taxable year, respondent issued the nod to petitioners.4 The NOD reflected petitioners’ reporting on their 1999 tax return that MCM was a partnership and that the $4,538,844 loss had passed through to them from MCM. The nod stated that petitioners were not entitled to deduct the loss and that they were liable for an accuracy-related penalty under section 6662. The NOD stated that the only other adjustments to petitioners’ reported taxable income were computational adjustments made to petitioners’ itemized deductions pursuant to section 68(a) and (b).

The NOD stated that respondent disallowed petitioners’ claimed deduction for the loss because they failed to establish that they had any basis in MCM, that a loss was sustained during 1999 in the amount claimed, that any loss was attributable to them, or that the claimed loss (or any portion thereof), if sustained, was allowable as a deduction under the Code. The NOD stated that any deduction of the loss also was disallowed because petitioners had failed to establish that any deduction related to the loss was not limited or disallowed by one or more sections of the Code, including for example sections 165 and 465. The NOD stated that a deduction for the loss also was disallowed because MCM was a sham for tax purposes, and the provisions of chapter 1, sub-chapter K, including for example sections 705, 722, 732, and 752, could not be used to calculate their basis in MCM.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
132 T.C. No. 18, 132 T.C. 355, 2009 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 16, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/meruelo-v-commr-tax-2009.