2026-04-02
In March 2026, the Tax Court published 16 opinions, which included a total of 257 pages. Below are graphs for the month showing: (i) the top 15 code sections referenced, (ii) cases cited 5 or more times, (iii) the number of opinions by judge, and (iv) the number of pages by judge.
I am always interested in learning well-established tax principles. Often, court cases will explicitly indicate that a tax principle is well established or well settled. Or the court may concisely state the holding of a prior case in a parenthetical. Below are excerpts from the March 2026 Tax Court cases referring to these types of principles or holdings.
Ayers v. Commr., [Bench Opinion]. (Toro)
Bergersen v. Commissioner, 109 F.3d 56, 59 (1st Cir. 1997) ("It is common ground that section 933 excludes Puerto Rico source income from U.S. income tax only where the taxpayer is a resident of Puerto Rico for the entire year in question.")
Barrett Business Services, Inc. v. Commr., 166 T.C. No. 7 (2026). (Buch)
The Supreme Court has explained that "where Congress uses terms that have accumulated settled meaning under the common law, a court must infer, unless the statute otherwise dictates, that Congress means to incorporate the established meaning of those terms," and that "when Congress has used the term 'employee' without defining it, we have concluded that Congress intended to describe the conventional master-servant relationship as understood by common-law agency doctrine." Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Darden, 503 U.S. 318, 322-23 (1992) (citation modified). Consequently, in the absence of a definition, we look to common law concepts to determine the existence of an employer-employee relationship.
Continental Grand LP v. Commr., 166 T.C. No. 3 (2026). (Toro)
Estate of Jackson v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2021-48 ("The choice of entity can have big effects on the tax consequences that a business faces.")
Continental Grand LP v. Commr., 166 T.C. No. 3 (2026). (Toro)
Additionally, this Court has held that the entity classification regulations do not render a single-member limited liability company (LLC) invisible for the purpose of valuing a gift of an interest in the LLC. Pierre v. Commissioner, 133 T.C. 24, 35 (2009)
Continental Grand LP v. Commr., 166 T.C. No. 3 (2026). (Toro)
Lessinger v. Commissioner, 872 F.2d 519, 525 (2d Cir. 1989) ("Liabilities by definition have no 'basis' in tax law generally or in section 1012 terms specifically.")
Continental Grand LP v. Commr., 166 T.C. No. 3 (2026). (Toro)
Lessinger v. Commissioner, 872 F.2d at 525 ("The taxpayer could, of course, have no 'basis' in his own promise to pay the corporation $255,000, because that item is a liability for him.")
Continental Grand LP v. Commr., 166 T.C. No. 3 (2026). (Toro)
Oden v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1981-184 ("Since [the taxpayer] incurred no cost in making the note, its basis to him was zero.")
Continental Grand LP v. Commr., 166 T.C. No. 3 (2026). (Toro)
Our Court has previously held that a partner who contributes his own note to a partnership in exchange for a partnership interest takes no basis in the interest. E.g., VisionMonitor Software, LLC v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2014-182, at *10 (collecting cases).
Gyarmati v. Commr., T.C. Memo. 2026-27. (Copeland)
Peterson v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1987-508 ("[W]e are not willing to . . . allocate between the cost of the house and its furnishings in view of the complete lack of any evidence in this regard in the record.")
In March 2026, the IRS published 9 Announcements, Notices, Revenue Procedures, and Revenue Rulings, which included a total of 100 pages.
In March 2026, the IRS published 59 Written Determinations, which included a total of 367 pages.
