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HARRIS v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.2021-02-26No. 19-4278

Summary

Holding. The court affirmed the Tax Court's judgment, holding that the lower court properly limited its recalculation to the deductions the Commissioner had formally conceded and did not err in rejecting Harris's other arguments, which were barred by the mandate rule and law of the case doctrine or lacked evidentiary support.

Joshua Harris, representing himself, appealed a Tax Court decision regarding his 2013 and 2014 income tax liabilities. In a prior appeal, this court had instructed the Tax Court to recalculate his tax deficiencies and penalties while accounting for deductions that the IRS Commissioner had conceded in pretrial filings. On remand, the Tax Court performed that recalculation, and Harris appealed again, raising new arguments about additional deductions he claimed to substantiate, statute of limitations issues, and alleged misconduct by the Commissioner.

The court ruled that Harris's new arguments fell outside the scope of what the court's prior mandate had authorized the Tax Court to reconsider. The mandate rule and law of the case doctrine prevented the Tax Court from revisiting issues that Harris had raised or could have raised in earlier proceedings, including challenges to the statute of limitations and the Commissioner's conduct before the first trial. The court also found no clear error in the Tax Court's rejection of Harris's claim that the Commissioner had made additional oral concessions during the remand proceedings.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether the Tax Court properly applied the prior appellate mandate on remand
  • Whether the mandate rule barred reconsideration of statute of limitations and misconduct defenses
  • Whether Harris substantiated additional deductions and oral concessions by the Commissioner

Procedural posture

Harris appealed the Tax Court's recalculation of his tax deficiencies and penalties following a prior appellate remand.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

SUMMARY ORDER

Appellant Joshua Harris, proceeding pro se, challenged a notice of delinquency issued by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (“Commissioner”) for his 2013 and 2014 income taxes in the U.S. Tax Court. The Tax Court dismissed the case and entered a judgment in the amount that the Commissioner claimed on the notice after Harris failed to appear for trial, without accounting for deductions to which the Commissioner had conceded in a pretrial memorandum that Harris was entitled. In his first appeal, we affirmed the Tax Courts decision in all respects “except for the exclusion of the Commissioners pretrial concessions” from its calculation of Harriss 2013 and 2014 tax deficiencies and penalties, and we remanded with instructions for the Tax Court to determine whether the exclusion of these concessions was error and, if so, to recalculate the deficiencies and penalties. Harris v. Commr of Internal Revenue, 748 F. Appx 387, 390 (2d Cir. 2018) (summary order). The Tax Court recalculated the deficiencies and penalties on remand, and Harris appeals. We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts, the procedural history of the case, and the issues on appeal.

“We review de novo the Tax Courts legal conclusions and for clear error its factual findings.” Chai v. Commr of Internal Revenue, 851 F.3d 190, 204 (2d Cir. 2017); see 26 U.S.C. § 7482(a)(1). We also review de novo whether a lower courts decision comports with this Courts mandate. Statek Corp. v. Dev. Specialists, Inc. (In re Coudert Brothers LLP), 809 F.3d 94, 98 (2d Cir. 2015).

As a preliminary matter, it is clear from the record that a stray reference to the 2009 and 2010 tax years in the Commissioners calculations on remand was a scriveners error, which the Commissioner later corrected. Harris does not otherwise argue on appeal that, if the Tax Court was limited to those deductions that the Commissioner conceded in his pretrial memorandum, its calculation of his tax deficiencies and penalties for the 2013 and 2014 tax years was incorrect. He has thus abandoned that issue. See LoSacco v. City of Middletown, 71 F.3d 88, 92–93 (2d Cir. 1995).

Instead, Harris principally argues that the Tax Court should have found that he had no tax liabilities because he could substantiate additional deductions, or because the proceedings were time-barred and the Commissioner had denied him access to necessary discovery or otherwise refused to cooperate with him prior to the first trial. However, the mandate rule bars a lower court from considering issues that were expressly or impliedly resolved by this Courts mandate. Brown v. City of Syracuse, 673 F.3d 141, 147 (2d Cir. 2012); see also United States v. Quintieri, 306 F.3d 1217, 1225 (2d Cir. 2002) (mandate rule also bars lower courts from considering previously waived issues on remand). We agree with the Tax Court that our mandate did not permit consideration of deductions not conceded by the Commissioner. See Yick Man Mui v. United States, 614 F.3d 50, 53 (2d Cir. 2010) (“To determine whether an issue may be reconsidered on remand,” a lower court “should look to both the specific dictates of the remand order as well as the broader spirit of the mandate.” (internal quotation marks omitted)); cf. Quintieri, 306 F.3d at 1226 (mandate remanding “for resentencing” was for limited—not de novo—resentencing where the Courts decision identified one potential Guidelines error and found all of the appellants other claims to be without merit). It also barred consideration of Harriss defenses related to the statute of limitations, the Commissioners alleged failure to audit his taxes, or the Commissioners alleged misconduct prior to the first trial—which were all issues that Harris raised, or could have raised, prior to the Tax Courts dismissal order or in the first appeal, and were thus impliedly resolved by this Courts mandate. See Quintieri, 306 F.3d at 1225.

To the extent that Harris argues that we should consider these issues in the first instance, under the related law of the case doctrine, we ordinarily refrain from considering issues that we expressly or impliedly decided in a prior decision, including issues that were waived in the earlier proceedings. See id. at 1229; see also id. at 1225 (observing that, absent an intervening decision by a higher court, the law of the case doctrine applicable to an appellate court is “more flexible” than the mandate rule applicable to a district court on remand). We will not depart from this rule “absent cogent and compelling reasons such as an intervening change of controlling law, the availability of new evidence, or the need to correct a clear error or prevent manifest injustice.” Starbucks Corp. v. Wolfes Borough Coffee, Inc., 736 F.3d 198, 208 (2d Cir. 2013) (internal quotation marks omitted). Harris has not shown that such reasons are present here.

As to Harriss remaining arguments, the Tax Court did not clearly err in declining to credit Harriss claim that the Commissioner made additional oral concessions that should have been incorporated into the recalculation of his tax deficiencies and penalties. This claim was supported only by Harriss own statements to the Tax Court and, as the Tax Court observed, these statements were vague as to the specifics of the alleged concessions. See Am. Valmar Intl Ltd., Inc. v. Commr of Internal Revenue, 229 F.3d 98, 101 (2d Cir. 2000) (noting that this Court owes “particularly strong deference” to Tax Courts “determination of witnesses’ credibility” (internal quotation marks omitted)). Contrary to Harriss claim, the Commissioners decision not to concede his entitlement to additional deductions on remand was not misconduct. Finally, Harriss judicial bias claim principally turns on his claim that the Tax Court misinterpreted this Courts mandate or failed to sanction the Commissioners alleged misconduct on remand. These decisions were not inappropriate; in any event, “adverse rulings, without more, will rarely suffice to provide a reasonable basis for questioning a judges impartiality.” Chen v. Chen Qualified Settlement Fund, 552 F.3d 218, 227 (2d Cir. 2009).

We have considered all of Harriss arguments and find them to be without merit. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the judgment of the Tax Court.