Brinkley v. CIR

The Commissioner issued petitioner a notice of deficiency for the 2011 tax year and charged that petitioner had mischaracterized $1.8 million of the $3.1 million he received as a result of the merger between his company and Google, Inc., as long-term capital gain rather than ordinary income. The court agreed with the tax court’s finding that the preponderance of the evidence favors the Commissioner’s deficiency determination, so any error in the court’s allocation of the burden of proof is harmless. In this case, the facts lend credence to the tax court’s conclusion that petitioner did not make a good faith effort to assess his tax liability and could not reasonably rely on his advisers. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Brinkley v. CIR" on Justia Law