Jane Genova of Law and More wonders whether tax lawyers are becoming obsolete (emphasis added):
Lori Singleton-Clarke, a Maryland nurse, took on IRS lawyers and won. What she won was the right to deduct nearly $15,000 tuition for her own MBA and for other professionals to do the same for their business degrees.
As Laura Saunders reports in The Wall Street Journal, Singleton-Clarke “defended herself against the agency’s [IRS] lawyers and won.” The implications could be profound. We Everyman and Everywoman professionals might become bolder with our tax deductions and stay bold when the IRS contacts us with questions or challenges. Like, who’s afraid of the IRS?
In addition, tax lawyers might start fearing that their special area of expertise isn’t so special any more. Could most of us, if we did our research, do their jobs?
The short answer to Ms. Genova’s question is that it depends on the facts of the case and the intelligence of the taxpayer. In this case, it appears that:
- Ms. Singleton-Clarke is smart
- A single, straight forward issue was in dispute
- The IRS should have settled the case at appeals rather than have taken it to trial
Related Posts:
- Lawyer Up! Unrepresented Taxpayers Likely to Lose in Tax Court
- Heading to Tax Court? Here’s How to Win
4 responses so far ↓
1 Mary O'Keeffe // Jan 9, 2010 at 11:30 am
Peter, there’s been a lot of press coverage of this case, but none that I’ve seen discusses the fact that the Tax Court opinion for Ms. Singleton-Clark’s case prominently states:
PURSUANT TO INTERNAL REVENUE CODE
SECTION 7463(b),THIS OPINION MAY NOT
BE TREATED AS PRECEDENT FOR ANY
OTHER CASE.
Given that the press has not discussed this point, I’d be interested in your comments on the extent to which other taxpayers can or should rely–even informally–on an opinion issued under a Section 7463 filing.
2 Code Section 7463 Non-Precedential Tax Court Decisions // Jan 9, 2010 at 2:16 pm
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3 Peter // Jan 11, 2010 at 5:27 pm
Mary,
Great question.
I answer it in my post titled Small Case Tax Rulings not to be Used as Precedent
4 Taxpayers Lose 86% of Tax Court Cases // Jan 14, 2010 at 12:24 am
[...] Do You Need a Tax Lawyer? [...]
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