Is Found Money Taxable?

Say that you found a money clip with several hundred dollars. There is no identification, so there is no way to return it.

Question: Do you have taxable income?

Let’s look at a famous tax case.

In 1957 the Cesarinis purchased a used piano at an auction for $15. Their daughter took lessons using this piano.

In 1964, while cleaning the piano, they discovered $4,467 in old currency bills. They exchanged the old currency for new at the bank. They also reported the $4,467 as income on their tax return.

By October 1965 they were having second thoughts. They amended their 1964 tax return, reversing the $4,467 from income and asking for a tax refund of $836.

The IRS rejected the refund claim.

Off to Court they went.

The Cesarinis had three arguments:

(1)  The $4,467 was not income under the tax Code.

(2)  If it was, then it was income in 1957, when they purchased the piano. Since 1957 was a closed tax year, there was no further tax consequence.

(3) Even if it was taxable in 1964, it should be taxable as capital gains and not as ordinary income.

The Court was methodical:

·      Code section 61(a) stated “except as otherwise provided in this subtitle, gross income means all income from whatever source derived….” 

Granted, there are other sections that may keep a source from being taxed – or delaying its taxation – but the general rule is to consider all accessions to wealth as taxable. The language was intentional, and it was deliberately used by Congress to assert the full measure of its taxing power under the 16^th amendment.

·      The IRS did not, but the Court did, point to the following Regulation:

Treasure trove, to the extent of its value in United States currency, constitutes gross income for the taxable year in which it is reduced to undisputed possession.”

The Cesarinis, seeing an opening, pressed on the year they obtained undisputed possession.

That is not a tax question per se, so the Court looked at state law. Say the Cesarinis had sold the piano in 1958, not knowing about the cash. Would they have an action against a purchaser who later found the cash? In Ohio (their state of residence) they would not. Extrapolating, the Court determined that “undisputed possession” occurred in 1964, when the cash was found.

·      The Court acknowledged that both the piano and the cash could be construed as capital assets, and that capital gains derive from the sale or exchange of capital assets. 

And this is where word selection is critical: neither the piano or the currency had been sold or exchanged. No sale or exchange = no capital gain.

The Cesarini case cemented that found money – sometimes called “treasure trove” – is taxable just like any other type of income.

You are not really surprised at the answer, are you?

Our case this time was Cesarini v United States 296 F Supp 3 (N.D. Ohio 1969).

The Obamacare Subsidy Cliff

 

I am looking at a case involving the premium tax credit.

We are talking about the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Obamacare uses mathematical tripwires in its definitions. That is not surprising, as one must define “affordable,” determine a “subsidy,” and - for our discussion – calculate a subsidy phase-out. Affordable is defined as cost remaining below a certain percentage of household income. Think of someone with extremely high income - Elon Musk, for example. I anticipate that just about everything is affordable to him.

COMMENT: Technically the subsidy is referred to as the “advance premium tax credit.” For brevity, we will call it the subsidy.

There is a particular calculation, however, that is brutal. It is referred to as the “cliff,” and you do not want to be anywhere near it.

One approaches the cliff by receiving the subsidy. Let’s say that your premium would be $1,400 monthly but based on expected income you qualify for a subsidy of $1,000. Based on those numbers your out-of-pocket cost would be $400 a month.

Notice that I used the word “expected.” When determining your 2022 subsidy, for example, you would use your 2022 income. That creates a problem, as you will not know your 2022 income until 2023, when you file your tax return. A rational alternative would be to use the prior year’s (that is, 2021’s) income, but that was a bridge too far for Congress. Instead, you are to estimate your 2022 income. What if you estimate too high or too low? There would be an accounting (that is, a “true up”) when you file your 2022 tax return.

I get it. If you guessed too high, you should have been entitled to a larger subsidy. That true-up would go on your return and increase your refund. Good times.

What if it went the other way, however? You guessed too low and should have received a smaller subsidy. Again, the true-up would go on your tax return. It would reduce your refund. You might even owe. Bad times.

Let’s introduce another concept.

ACA posited that health insurance was affordable if one made enough money. While a priori truth, that generalization was unworkable. “Enough money” was defined as 400% of the poverty level.

Below 400% one could receive a subsidy (of some amount). Above 400% one would receive no subsidy.

Let’s recap:

(1)  One could receive a subsidy if one’s income was below 400% of the poverty level.

(2)  One guessed one’s income when the subsidy amount was initially determined.

(3)  One would true-up the subsidy when filing one’s tax return.

Let’s set the trap:

(1)  You estimated your income too low and received a subsidy.

(2)  Your actual income was above 400% of the poverty level.

(3)  You therefore were not entitled to any subsidy.

Trap: you must repay the excess subsidy.

That 400% - as you can guess – is the cliff we mentioned earlier.

Let’s look at the Powell case.

Robert Powell and Svetlana Iakovenko (the Powells) received a subsidy for 2017.

They also claimed a long-term capital loss deduction of $123,822.

Taking that big loss into account, they thought they were entitled to an additional subsidy of $636.

Problem.

Capital losses do not work that way. Capital losses are allowed to offset capital losses dollar-for-dollar. Once that happens, capital losses can only offset another $3,000 of other income.

COMMENT: That $3,000 limit has been in the tax Code since before I started college. Considering that I am close to 40 years of practice, that number is laughably obsolete.

The IRS caught the error and sent the Powells a notice.

The IRS notice increased their income to over 400% and resulted in a subsidy overpayment of $17,652. The IRS wanted to know how the Powells preferred to repay that amount.

The Powells – understandably stunned – played one of the best gambits I have ever read. Let’s read the instructions to the tax form:

We then turn to the text of Schedule D, line 21, for the 2017 tax year, which states as follows:

         If line 16 is a loss, enter ... the smaller of:

·      The loss on line 16 or

·      $3,000

So?

The Powells pointed out that a loss of $123,822 is (technically) smaller than a loss of $3,000. Following the literal instructions, they were entitled to the $123,822 loss.

It is an incorrect reading, of course, and the Powells did not have a chance of winning. Still, the thinking is so outside-the-box that I give them kudos.

Yep, the Powells went over the cliff. It hurt.

Note that the Powell’s year was 2017.

Let’s go forward.

The American Rescue Plan eliminated any subsidy repayment for 2020.

COVID year. I understand.

The subsidy was reinstated for 2021 and 2022, but there was a twist. The cliff was replaced with a gradual slope; that is, the subsidy would decline as income increased. Yes, you would have to repay, but it would not be that in-your-face 100% repayment because you hit the cliff.

Makes sense.

What about 2023?

Let’s go to new tax law. The ironically named Inflation Reduction Act extended the slope-versus-cliff relief through 2025.

OK.

Congress of course just kicked the can down the road, as the cliff will return in 2026.

Our case this time was Robert Lester Powell and Svetlana Alekseevna Iakovenko v Commissioner, T.C. Summary Opinion 2002-19.

An Intelligence Site, A Tax Treaty, and a Closing Agreement

I am looking at a case involving IRS closing agreements and the U.S. Pine Gap facility in Australia.

It gives us a chance to talk about closing agreements, an uncommon topic.

It also gives a chance to talk about Pine Gap, which is a U.S. Intelligence-gathering facility in the Northern Territory of Australia. It started decades ago as a monitoring station for Soviet ballistic testing, and with the years it has acquired several new roles. Think of drone attacks in Pakistan, and you have an idea of what happens at Pine Gap.

FIRST ACT: we have a spooky intelligence site.

Let’s move on to a treaty.

Under general tax rules, Australia would be able to tax American workers at Pine Gap. They are - after all – working in Australia. This was not the desired result, so a treaty in the 1960s exempted American workers at Pine Gap from Australian tax. There was a requisite, though: to be exempt, the wages had to be taxed by the U.S.

Got it. There was a one-bite-at-the-apple rule. Australia would back off if the U.S. got the first bite.

But U.S. tax law also includes a foreign earned income exclusion, whereby an American worker overseas could exempt some (or all) of his/her wages from tax, if certain requirements were met.  

How could Australia be sure that the wages were being taxed by the U.S.? Mind you, the alternative was for Australia to apply the default rule, meaning that both Australia and the U.S. would tax the wages. Sure, the worker could claim a foreign tax credit on his/her U.S. tax return, but the tax consequences of working at Pine Gap would have escalated unappealingly.  

The treaty was revised in the 1980s to allow American workers at Pine Gap to relinquish their foreign earned income exclusion by entering into a closing agreement with the IRS.

SECOND ACT: we have an income tax treaty.

Cory was a U.S. Air Force veteran and engineer. In 2009 he received a job offer from Raytheon to work at Pine Gap. He was informed that Australia would not tax him, but to get there he would have to sign a closing agreement with the IRS. The agreement was straightforward: he would not claim the foreign earned income exclusion.

Mind you, he did not have to sign a closing agreement. Australia would then tax him, and his U.S. return would get a little more complicated.

Cory signed the agreement.

The point behind a closing agreement is finality. Both sides agree, settle, and move on. Excepting fraud or malfeasance, there are no “do-overs.” That is - as you would expect - the reason that one requests one. An example is the wrap-up of a taxable estate. The tax practitioner does not want that estate resurrecting later, causing headaches when all parties considered the matter closed.

Cory wanted out of his closing agreement.

Problem.

Closing agreements arise under a Code section. This means that the Court would be reviewing statutory law (that is, the Code as statute on the matter) and not just the general principles of contract law (offer, acceptance, and all that).

That Code section doesn’t let one off the hook without showing malfeasance or misrepresentation of a material fact.

Cory argued that he met that standard. Somebody somewhere at the IRS did not have appropriate signature authority; the IRS committed malfeasance by sharing information with his employer, Raytheon; he was induced to sign by false representations.

I think Cory was grasping at straws.

The Court apparently thought the same way. The Court decided Cory was stuck with the agreement. He signed it; he owned it.

THIRD ACT: we have a closing agreement.

This is a specialized case pulling-in several different areas of the Code.

I get Cory’s point. He wanted exemption both from Australian tax AND some/all U.S. tax.

Me too, Cory. Me too.

Our case this time was Cory H Smith v Commissioner, 159 T.C. No. 3 (Aug 25,2022).

No Penalty Abatement When Taxes Not Paid For Years

 

I am looking at a case where the taxpayers wanted penalty abatement for reasonable cause.

I have been cynical for years about the IRS allowing reasonable cause, but let’s read on.

The Koncurats owed for years 2005, 2006 and 2010 through 2016.

CTG: There is a donut in there from 2007 through 2009. I wonder what happened?

For the years at issue Stephen Koncurat owned his own company in the insurance industry. Tamara Koncurat maintained their home and raised four children.

The interest and penalties added up, exceeding $670 grand. To their credit, the Koncurats did not argue the tax due. They did feel, however, that penalty abatement was warranted because “circumstances largely beyond his control” prevented them from meeting their tax obligations.

There were a lot of years involved, though. What were those circumstances?

·      Around 2007 or 2008 Stephen had six rental properties foreclosed.

COMMENT: Got it. That was the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and the near implosion of the American housing market.

·      From 2010 to 2011 Stephen’s income dropped sharply from over $450K to about $96K.

·      There was a stretch where they could not even afford to make their house payment. Stephen’s father made the payments for them. 

OBSERVATION: This is years after 2005 and 2006, however. I can see going into a payment plan, then negotiating with the IRS to reduce or interrupt payments because of subsequent events cratering one’s income. It is not the easiest thing to do, but it can be done. 

·      Around 2014 or 2015 Stephen broke his back.

·      In 2018 he was diagnosed with cancer and a blocked artery.

·      He thereafter underwent three major surgeries and attended over 100 medical appointments.

He continued to work, as best he could., They reported the following income:

         2005          $274,359

         2006          $251,902

         2010          $462,455

         2011          $95,974

         2012          $71,847

         2013          $109,072

2014          $171,648

2015          $207,398

2016          $314,491                              

I get it. The 2011 through 2013 tax years were aberrant.

I am impressed how well he did during the broken back, cancer and surgery years, though.

Stephen voluntarily paid $1,500 a month to the IRS.

Good.

Starting January 2020.

What? Starting …??

I admit, this is going to be a problem. Unexpected circumstances can knock you off your feet. Maybe you don’t file or pay for a couple of years, but there is a beginning and end to the story. Somewhere in there the IRS – and reasonable cause – expects you to put on your big boy pants and try to comply. Hopefully you can file and pay, but maybe all you can do is file. Fine, then file and request a payment plan. Will the IRS be unreasonable? Of course. What if they want more than you can pay? Then request a Collections Due Process hearing.

The point is: get back into the system.

If you don’t, then reasonable cause – hard to obtain under regular circumstances – takes a step up the difficulty ladder. You now have to present “unavoidable obstacles” to your compliance.

Short of being in a coma or Marvel Universe superheroes destroying your city, that “unavoidable” threshold is going to be near-nigh impossible to meet.

Here is the Court:

·      They have alleged no details sufficient to support a finding that any of the hardships they experienced actually presented unavoidable obstacles.”

·      Further, the Koncurats have not alleged … that they ‘didn’t have [the money] or couldn’t keep [the installment plan] going…’”

·      While the family’s financial troubles were significant at times, the record reflects that they have had consistent access to financial resources throughout the years at issue.”

·      They were … contributing tuition, housing and wedding expenses to children….”

That last one doesn’t make sense for broke people.

·      Stephen Koncurat earned more than one million dollars in income in 2019, and again in 2021.”

So we are not talking about broke people. Broke people do not make a million dollars a year.

The Court wanted to know why – with that million dollars – they did not clean-up their tax debt – or at least a chunk of it – rather than delaying payment and tying up the Court’s time.

There was no reasonable cause for the Koncurats. Heck, one could have looked at the extended failure to pay and instead concluded that there was willful neglect.

Meaning no penalty abatement.

No surprise there.

The Koncurats dug themselves a hole by letting the matter go on long enough to attend high school. The likelihood of reasonable cause over that much time was minimal, but I do think that there was something they could have done to improve their odds.

What would that have been?

Take that $1 million dollars and pay the IRS.

They would then have gone before the Court and argued that they had a bad stretch, causing them to fail in their obligations and run afoul of the tax system. However, when their fortune improved, the first party they took care of was … the IRS.

Would this have allowed reasonable cause? Financial difficulties generally do not lead to eligibility for reasonable cause relief.

But it would not have hurt. It also would have lifted the needle off zero and given the Court something specific to support a taxpayer-favorable determination.  

Our case this time was United States v Koncurat, USDC MD, Case No 1:21-cv-00676.

A Penalty Against A Tax Preparer

 

Did you know that the IRS can assess penalties against a tax preparer as well as a taxpayer?

I am looking at an IRS Chief Counsel Memorandum recommending a preparer be penalized for a deduction on a client return.

You do not see that every day.

Let’s talk about it.

As is our way, we will streamline the issue so that it is something you might want to read and something I might want to write.

A taxpayer accrued expenses on its books for customer early payment discounts and estimated write-offs for disputed billing and shipping charges.

Sure, easy for a CPA to say.

Let’s clarify. The company sold stuff. It allowed discounts if a customer paid early. It also had routine billing disputes – for quantity, quality, price, damage and so on. As part of its general accounting, it estimated these charges and recorded them as expenses when the related sale was recorded.

Makes sense to me. Generally accepted accounting wants one to record all related expenses when the sale is recorded. This is called the “timing principle,” and the idea is to present net profit from a sales transaction as well as reasonably possible. What if all the expenses are not known at that precise moment - say, for example - the amount of product that will be returned because of damage in shipping? Generally accepted accounting will allow one to estimate that number, normally by statistical analysis of historical experience.

BTW you better do this if you expect to have your financial statements audited. Part of an audit is a review of your accounting method, and the “estimate that number” described above is considered a best-of-breed.

Generally accepted accounting might not work when you get to your tax return, however. Why? Well, generally accepted accounting is trying to get to the “best” number in an economic sense. Tax accounting is not trying to get to the “best” number; rather, it is trying to measure your ability to pay. Pay what? Taxes, of course.

Let’s go back to our taxpayer. They estimated a bunch of expenses when they recorded a sale. They included those numbers on their financial statements. They then wanted to deduct those same numbers on their tax return.

Problem:

The taxpayer utilized statistics to record the expenses for the two items. The courts held that statistics were not a valid method to record the amounts.”

Their CPA firm had to review the accounting method and decide whether it was acceptable for tax purposes.

There is even a Code section and Regulations:

           Reg § 1.461-1. General rules for taxable year of deduction

(a)(2) Taxpayer using an accrual method.

(i) In general. Under an accrual method of accounting, a liability (as defined in §1.446-1(c)(1)(ii)(B)) is incurred, and generally is taken into account for Federal income tax purposes, in the taxable year in which all the events have occurred that establish the fact of the liability, the amount of the liability can be determined with reasonable accuracy, and economic performance has occurred with respect to the liability. 

 

You see that last sentence and its reference to “economic performance?”

 

For generally accepted accounting, one must:

        

·      Establish the fact of the liability.

·      Measure the amount of the liability with reasonable accuracy.

 

Tax then adds one more requirement:

        

·      Economic performance on the liability must have occurred.

 

That third requirement is what slows down the tax deduction.

 

What is an example of economic performance?

 

Say that you record expenses for services related to the sale. Economic performance wants to see those services performed before allowing the deduction. What if you know - because it has happened millions of times before and can be calculated with near-arithmetic certainty – that the services will occur? Tax doesn’t care.  

 

But the auditors signed-off on the financial statements, you say. Doesn’t that mean that experts agreed that the accounting method was valid?      

A taxpayer’s conformity with its accrual method used for financial accounting purposes does not create a presumption that its tax accrual method clearly reflects income.”

And there you have a brief introduction to why a company’s financial statements and its tax return might show different numbers. Financial statement accounting and tax accounting serve different purposes, and those differences have real-world consequences.

 

In this situation, I side with the IRS. Work in a CPA firm for any meaningful period and you will see tax people repetitively “tweak” the audit people’s numbers. It happens so often it has a term: “M-1.” Schedule M-1 is a tax schedule that reconciles the profit per the financial statements to the profit per the tax return. The possible list of differences is near endless:

 

·      Entertainment

·      Depreciation

·      Allowance for uncollectible receivables

·      Accrued bonuses

·      Reserve for warranties

·      Deferred rent

·      Controlled foreign corporation income

·      Opportunity zone income

 

And on and on. Knowing these differences is part of being a tax pro.

 

The Chief Counsel wanted to know why the tax pros at this particular CPA firm did not know that this generally accepted accounting method would not work for purposes of the tax return.

 

To be fair, methinks, because it is complicated …?

 

No dice, said the Counsel’s office. The preparer should have known.

 

The items deducted constituted a substantial part of the return. 

TRANSLATION: It was a big deduction.

And therefore the preparer penalty is appropriate.  

TRANSLATION: Someone has to pay.

Mind you, a Chief Counsel memorandum is internal to the IRS. The taxpayer – and by extension, its CPA firm – might appeal the matter to the Tax Court. I would expect them to, frankly. The memorandum is just the IRS’ side.

For the home gamers, today we have been discussing Chief Counsel Memorandum 20223301F.

 

Repaying a COVID-Related Distribution

Do you remember a tax break in 2020 that allowed you to take (up to) $100,000 from your IRA or your employer retirement plan? These were called “coronavirus-related distributions,” or CRDs in the lingo. In and of itself, the provision was not remarkable. What was remarkable is that one was allowed three years to return some, all, or none of the money to the IRA or employer plan, as one wished.

I was thinking recently that I do not remember seeing 2021 individual returns where someone returned the money.

Granted, we have a flotilla of returns on extension here at Galactic Command. I may yet see this beast in its natural state.

Let’s go over how this provision works.

To make it easy, let’s say that you took $100,000 from your 401(k) in 2020 for qualifying COVID-related reasons.

You had an immediate binary decision:

·      Report the entire $100,000 as income in 2020 and pay the taxes immediately.

·      Spread the reporting of the $100 grand over three years – 2020, 2021 and 2022 - and pay taxes over three years.

There was no early-distribution penalty on this distribution, which was good.

You might wonder how paying the tax immediately could be preferable to paying over three years. It could happen. How? Say that you had a business and it got decimated by COVID lockdowns. Your 2020 income might be very low – heck, you might even have an overall tax loss. If that were the case, reporting the income and paying the tax in 2020 might make sense, especially if you expected your subsequent years’ income to return to normal levels.

What was a COVID-related reason for a distribution?

The easy ones are:

·      You, a spouse or dependent were diagnosed (and possibly quarantined) with COVID;

·      You had childcare issues because of COVID;

·      You were furloughed, laid-off or had work hours reduced because of COVID.

Makes sense. There is one more:

·      You experienced other “adverse financial consequences” because of COVID.

That last one has an open-gate feel to me. I’ll give you an example:

·      You own rental cabins in Aspen. No one was renting your cabins in 2020. Did you experience “adverse financial consequences” triggering this tax provision?

You have – should you choose to do so – three years to put the money back. The three-year period starts with the date of distribution, so it does not automatically mean (in fact, it is unlikely to be) December 31^st three years later.

The money doesn’t have to return to the same IRA or employer plan. Any qualifying IRA or employer plan will work. Makes sense, as there is a more-than-incidental chance that someone no longer works for the same employer.

 Let’s say that you decide to return $50 grand of the $100 grand.

The tax reporting depends on how you reported the $100 grand in 2020.

Remember that there were two ways to go:

·      Report all of it in 2020

This is easy.

You reported $100 grand in 2020.

When you return $50 grand you … amend 2020 and reduce income by $50 grand.

What if you return $50 grand over two payments – one in 2021 and again in 2022?

Easy: you amend 2020 for the 2021 and amend 2020 again for the 2022.

Question: can you keep amending like that – that is, amending an amended?

Answer: you bet.

·       Report the $100 grand over three years.

This is not so easy.

The reporting depends on how much of the $100 grand you have left to report.

Let’s say that you are in the second year of the three-year spread and repay $30,000 to your IRA or employer plan.

The test here is: did you repay the includable amount (or less) for that year?

If yes, just subtract the repayment from the includable amount and report the difference on that year’s return.

In our example, the math would be $33,333 - 30,000 = $3,333. You would report $3,333 for the second year of the spread.

If no, then it gets ugly.

Let’s revise our example to say that you repaid $40,000 rather than $30,000.

First step: You would offset the current-year includable amount entirely. There is nothing to report the second year, and you still have $6,667 ($40,000 – 33,333) remaining.

You have a decision.

You have a year left on the three-year spread. You could elect to carryforward the $6,667 to that year. You would report $26,666 ($33,333 – 6,667) in income for that third and final year.

You could alternatively choose to amend a prior year for the $6,667. For example, you already reported $33,333 in 2020, so you could amend 2020, reduce income by $6,666 and get an immediate tax refund.

Which is better? Neither is inherently better, at least to my thinking. It depends on your situation.

There is a specific tax form to use with spreads and repayments of CRDs. I will spare us the details for this discussion.

There you have it: the ropes to repaying a coronavirus-related distribution (CRD).

If you reflect, do you see the complexity Congress added to the tax Code? Multiply this provision by however many times Congress alters the Code every year, and you can see how we have gotten to the point where an average person is probably unable to prepare his/her own tax return.

 

A Foreclosure And A Mortgage Interest Deduction

I am looking at a case involving mortgage interest. While I get the issue, I think the taxpayers got hosed.

I am going to streamline the details so we can follow the key points.

The Howlands had two mortgages on their house.

The first mortgage started with Countrywide and eventually wound up with Bank of New York Mellon.

The second mortgage started with Haven Trust Bank and wound up with CenterState Bank.

The house was foreclosed in 2016. It sold for $594,000.

The Howlands owed the following when the house was sold:

            Mellon        CenterState

        Principal      $     $377,060

        Interest     $100,607

        Interest & other    $247,046

The Howlands deducted mortgage interest of $103,498 on their 2016 joint tax return.

Neither bank, however, issued a Form 1098 for mortgage interest.

Allow for a little computer matching (or nonmatching in this case), and the IRS disallowed any interest deduction and assessed penalties to boot.

This story partially happened during the Great Recession of the late aughts. That is when we learned of “too big to fail,” of “ninja” loans and of banks playing musical chairs to survive. Good luck guessing where a given loan would wind up when the music stopped. Perhaps a taxpayer borrowed from someone (let’s call them “A”). A was acquired by B, which was later merged into C and yada, yada, yada. The data platforms between A and B were incompatible, meaning there was a one-way data transfer. The odds that someone years later – especially after the yada, yada, yada - could get back to A were astronomical.

While not clarified in the opinion, I suspect that is what happened here. CenterState Bank was not going to issue a 1098 because it could/would not time travel to determine if their interest calculations were correct. In the absence of such assurance, they were not going to issue a 1098. Or perhaps they were lazy and problem-solving outside a comfortable, numbing rote was a request beyond the pale. I prefer to believe the former reason.

But there was a problem: under the terms of the second mortgage, payments were to be applied first to interest.

COMMENT: Seems to me the Howlands paid interest of some amount.

Let’s focus in on that second mortgage. The money available to repay the second mortgage (after satisfaction of the first mortgage) would have been:

$594,000 – 247,046 = $346,954

There should also have been some interest embedded in the first mortgage, but let’s ignore that for now.

There is $347 grand to pay $377 grand of debt and $100 grand of back interest.

The IRS argued there was not enough money left to cover the principal, much less the interest. That is why the bank did not issue a 1098.

But we know that interest was to be paid first, per the loan agreement.

The Tax Court had to decide.

You know who was not in Court to testify? 

CenterState Bank – the second mortgage holder - that’s who.

Here is the Court:

The record before us is silent as to how CenterState applied the funds received and whether petitioners owe any remaining principal balance. These facts (if favorable) could support a finding that petitioners in fact paid home mortgage interest ….”

True.

However, statements in briefs do not constitute evidence.”

Again, true, but why say it?

Petitioners bear the burden of proof and must show, by a preponderance of evidence, that they are entitled to a home mortgage interest deduction ….”

Oh, oh.

... we conclude that petitioners have failed to meet their burden.”

Sheeshh.

I am not certain what more the Howlands could have done. They were at the mercy of the bank, and the new bank that took the payoff was not the same as the old bank that originated the loan. 

The Tax Court did strike down the penalties. Small consolation, but it was something.

Our case this time was Howland v Commissioner, TC Memo 2022-60.