Decision will be entered under Rule 155.
WELLS,
Respondent determined a deficiency of $11,611 against petitioners for tax year 2010. Petitioners timely filed their petition on April 29, 2014.
Petitioners timely filed a Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, for the taxable year 2010. Petitioners also timely filed a 2010 Form 1120, U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return, for WPL, Inc. (WPL), an S corporation wholly owned by petitioner husband. On December 9, 2013, petitioners submitted a Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, for 2010 showing a tax overpayment2016 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 65">*66 of $13,873. Respondent did not accept the Form 1040X for filing and made no adjustments to petitioners' tax liability as a result of its submission. Instead, on February 3, 2014, respondent mailed petitioners a statutory notice of deficiency determining a deficiency in income tax of $11,611. Petitioners dispute the entire $11,611 deficiency and demand the overpayment reported in their amended return. Additionally, petitioners seek $40,000 in damages from respondent under section 7433.
In the notice of deficiency, respondent disallowed a WPL vehicle expense deduction of $19,687; a WPL employee benefit expense deduction of $5,832; and a loss carryforward deduction of $33,006 claimed on Schedule C, Profit or Loss From Business. Respondent also reduced petitioners' self-employment tax, and the related self-employment tax deduction, by excluding WPL's income from the self-employment tax calculation. As a result of these adjustments, respondent also disallowed the "Make work pay/government retiree" credit petitioners claimed on their 2010 return.
WPL is engaged in petroleum acquisitions and sales. WPL's workforce includes petitioner husband, two consultants, one2016 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 65">*67 full-time employee, and petitioner wife, who keeps the books. Petitioner husband kept a daily logbook during 2010 showing all of WPL's activities with respect to its customers, only some of which involved travel. During 2010 WPL workers traveled to several States for various business purposes. The relevant logbook entries show dates, customer names, the purpose or description of the work, hours spent and billed, and miles driven. Petitioners reported on an attachment to the return that 39,375 business miles were driven during 2010.
Roughly two-thirds of the entries listing mileage specify the city traveled to in the "purpose or description of work" section. The remaining entries either include the State traveled to or do not list any location. All mileage entries are multiples of 25. For a trip totaling 501.2 miles, for example, petitioner would have recorded 500 miles. There is also an entry for each month showing the sum of miles driven for marketing, client development, and bank errands. Petitioner husband recorded the miles driven for each marketing and client development event, but the logbook does not break down the dates, locations, or mileage of each event. Nor does the entry2016 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 65">*68 separate the marketing and development entries from the banking entries. The banking entries were determined by estimating the number of WPL workers' trips to the bank for the month.
WPL also deducted $5,832 in employee benefits. The notice of deficiency does not explain why the deduction was disallowed. Petitioner husband testified that there was never an explanation given for why it was denied. Petitioners believed the deduction was denied on a legal basis, rather than a factual basis. Petitioners litigated their 2008 and 2009 tax years before the Tax Court, and the opinion issued in that case discusses the deductibility of WPL's employee benefits as a legal issue, not a factual one.
Petitioners claimed a loss carryforward deduction of $33,006 related to claimed losses from the tax years 2008 and 2009. As discussed above, petitioners' 2008 and 2009 tax years were litigated before the Tax Court.
Generally, the Commissioner's determinations in a notice of deficiency are presumed correct, and the taxpayer bears the burden of proving that those determinations are erroneous. Rule 142(a)(1);
We must determine whether WPL properly claimed its deductions for 2010 before we can determine the effect on petitioners' return for 2010. Generally, an S corporation shareholder determines his or2016 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 65">*71 her tax liability by taking into account a pro rata share of the S corporation's income, losses, deductions, and credits. Sec. 1366(a)(1). Where a notice of deficiency includes adjustments for S corporation items with other items, we have jurisdiction to determine the correctness of all adjustments.
Taxpayers are required to substantiate expenses underlying each claimed deduction by maintaining records sufficient to establish the amount of the expense and to enable the Commissioner to determine the correct tax liability. Sec. 6001;
Petitioners claimed deductions for WPL's vehicle expenses using the IRS standard mileage rate. Adequate records substantiating vehicle expenses when using the standard mileage rate generally consist of an account book, a diary, a log, a statement of expense, trip sheets, or a similar record made at or near the time of the expenditure or use, along with supporting documentary evidence.
Petitioners' log book largely meets the strict substantiation rules. The entries specify dates traveled, the number of miles driven, the city driven to, and the client or business purpose. Respondent2016 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 65">*73 contends that petitioners' logbook entries must be estimates because the mileage numbers all end in 0 or 5. Petitioner husband testified that the numbers were not estimated, but rather rounded. We find petitioner to be a credible witness and believe his testimony that the miles listed are based on actual, contemporaneous calculations of the miles driven.
Certain of the entries, however, do not amount to adequate substantiation. The entries listing a State, rather than a specific location, for example, are too vague to satisfy the regulations. The client and market development and banking entries also fail to satisfy the regulations. Petitioner husband explicitly testified that the banking entries were estimates, and we cannot untangle the client and market development mileage from the banking mileage. Nor do we have locations or dates for the client and market development entries, rendering them too vague to satisfy the regulations.
Pursuant to this analysis, petitioners substantiated that during 2010 WPL workers drove 10,725 miles. For 2010 a deduction of 50 cents was allowed for each mile driven related to business.
WPL is entitled to deductions for health insurance benefits paid on behalf of petitioner husband.
Petitioners concede that the loss carryforward deduction they claimed from the 2009 tax year is determined by their previous litigation. In the litigation, the Tax Court sustained a determined deficiency for petitioners' 2009 tax year, rather than a loss.
Petitioners' filings discuss several additional adjustments in the notice of deficiency, such as the "Make work pay/government retiree" credit, amounts for personal exemptions, an increase in petitioners' AGI, and the calculation of self-employment tax and its accompanying deduction. The changes to petitioners' adjusted gross income due to the adjustments discussed above will affect the operation of items such as credits. Any computational issues that remain will be adjusted and confirmed in the Rule 155 computations.
Petitioners seek $40,000 in damages from respondent under section 7433. Section 7433(a) provides that a taxpayer may bring a civil action for damages against the United States for intentional, reckless, or negligent disregard of any provision of the Code or any regulation promulgated under the Code by any officer or employee of the IRS in connection with any collection2016 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 65">*76 of Federal tax. Section 7433(a) further provides that the taxpayer must bring the civil action in a District Court of the United States and that (except as provided in section 7432) the civil action in District Court "shall be the exclusive remedy for recovering damages resulting from such actions." Therefore, we lack jurisdiction to hear petitioners' section 7433 claim.
Any contentions we have not addressed we deem irrelevant, moot, or meritless.
To reflect the foregoing,