The Secret to Success in a Tax Court Case - It's Not About the Law
People going to the U.S. Tax Court generally think that trials and courtrooms are where you talk about the law. They also generally know the law that concerns their case.
The problem is, Tax Court trials are not about the law.
They are about the FACTS. The law speaks for itself. Or more accurately, the judge applies the law to the facts that you establish at trial.
But you never talk about the law before the facts are on the record. At best, raising questions of law before the trial will confirm for the court and your opponent that you don’t know what you’re doing.
At worst you give your opponent the rope he needs to hang you.
To win in Tax Court you need to know how to present your facts and how to keep your opponent's facts out.
You will eventually have to argue the law, but not before you have done battle with the IRS attorneys using the RULES.
The Rules of the Court
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
The Federal Rules of Evidence
These rules have the force of law in the courtroom. Trial lawyers succeed and fail by them. Courtroom battles are over the admission and exclusion of evidence, not over the law.
By knowing this simple fact you know more than 99% of people going to Tax Court on their own.
And the rules are not long or complicated. You can easily learn them and use them to your advantage.
U.S. Tax Court is a hostile land with its own language and customs
The natives are not there to help you. Their job is to extract every dollar they can from you and they are good at it.
They are used to working with people who:
don't know what's coming next
don't know the rules of the court or of procedure
don't know how to write legal documents
don't know how to do legal research
don't understand what's going on in Tax Court
don't know what hit them when they lose
People going to the U.S. Tax Court generally think that trials and courtrooms are where you talk about the law. They also generally know the law that concerns their case.
The problem is, Tax Court trials are not about the law.
They are about the FACTS. The law speaks for itself. Or more accurately, the judge applies the law to the facts that you establish at trial.
But you never talk about the law before the facts are on the record. At best, raising questions of law before the trial will confirm for the court and your opponent that you don’t know what you’re doing.
At worst you give your opponent the rope he needs to hang you.
To win in Tax Court you need to know how to present your facts and how to keep your opponent's facts out.
You will eventually have to argue the law, but not before you have done battle with the IRS attorneys using the RULES.
The Rules of the Court
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
The Federal Rules of Evidence
These rules have the force of law in the courtroom. Trial lawyers succeed and fail by them. Courtroom battles are over the admission and exclusion of evidence, not over the law.
By knowing this simple fact you know more than 99% of people going to Tax Court on their own.
And the rules are not long or complicated. You can easily learn them and use them to your advantage.
U.S. Tax Court is a hostile land with its own language and customs
The natives are not there to help you. Their job is to extract every dollar they can from you and they are good at it.
They are used to working with people who:
don't know what's coming next
don't know the rules of the court or of procedure
don't know how to write legal documents
don't know how to do legal research
don't understand what's going on in Tax Court
don't know what hit them when they lose
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