Robert MAYS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant-Appellee

United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit1985-06-21No. No. 84-8763

763 F.2d 1295

Summary · law.co

Holding. The court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for the United States, holding that the taxpayer failed to present substantial evidence rebutting the Commissioner's presumptively correct deficiency determinations and therefore was not entitled to a tax refund.

Robert Mays appealed a district court decision granting summary judgment in favor of the United States on his federal income tax refund claim for tax years 1975-1977. The Internal Revenue Service Commissioner had assessed additional taxes against Mays by disallowing business expenses, a capital gains deduction, and including a civil service annuity as income. Mays challenged the Commissioner's determination regarding capital gains treatment on a swine sale and argued that his net worth statements should have been sufficient to rebut the tax assessment.

The appellate court applied the legal principle that in tax refund cases, the Commissioner's deficiency determinations are presumed correct and the taxpayer bears the burden of proving error. The court found that Mays failed to meet this burden. His computer printout of business expenses was prepared after the tax audit and therefore lacked evidentiary weight as a contemporaneous business record. His net worth statements contained no references to original supporting documents and constituted self-serving statements without independent corroboration. Because Mays presented no credible contemporaneous documentation or other substantive evidence to demonstrate that the Commissioner's assessment was incorrect or to establish the proper refund amount, he did not overcome the presumption of correctness.

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

Key issues

Whether a taxpayer's post-audit computer printout and net worth statements constitute sufficient evidence to rebut the Commissioner's presumption of correctness in tax deficiency determinations
Tax treatment of a swine sale transaction and eligibility for capital gains treatment
Burden of proof in federal tax refund litigation

Procedural posture

Mays appealed from a district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the United States on his claim for a federal income tax refund.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion · public domain

majority opinion

PER CURIAM:

Robert Mays appeals from the district court’s judgment granting the United States summary judgment on his claim for a refund of federal income taxes. The question we must decide is whether Mays failed to present substantial evidence indicating that the tax deficiencies the Commissioner determined against him with respect to his returns for the years 1975, 1976, and 1977 were incorrect.

The Commissioner assessed an additional tax against Mays for the years in question after disallowing various business expenses and a capital gains deduction, and including a civil service annuity as income. In the proceedings below the government propounded interrogatories to Mays which he answered superficially. He included in his answer, for example, a computer printout purporting to summarize his alleged business expenses; the printout had been prepared after the audit of Mays’ returns had been completed, however, and did not constitute a business record kept contemporaneously with the transactions it reflected. After the government moved for summary judgment and the court gave him time to reply, Mays filed a “Demand for Speedy Jury Trial” and attached to his demand copies of “Net Worth Statements.” The district court, addressing the government’s motion for summary judgment, concluded that Mays had not rebutted the presumption of correctness due the Commissioner’s deficiency determinations and that Mays was entitled to no refund. The court therefore granted summary judgment.

On appeal, Mays contests the failure of the Commissioner to accord capital gains treatment to his 1976 sale of swine. He argues additionally that his “Net Worth Statements” should have been adequate to rebut the prima facie validity of the Commissioner’s determination that he owed additional taxes.

This court exercises an independent review of motions for summary judgment, and conclusions of law are subject to the same standard of appellate review as any question of law raised on appeal. Morrison v. Washington County, Alabama, 700 F.2d 678, 682 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 104 S.Ct. 195, 78 L.Ed.2d 171 (1983). Summary judgment should only be entered when the record, with all evidence viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, demonstrates that no genuine dispute exists as to any material fact in the case. Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 1608, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970); National Independent Theatre Exhibitors, Inc. v. Buena Vista Distribution Co., 748 F.2d 602, 608 (11th Cir.1984).

In a tax refund suit, the Commissioner’s deficiency determinations are presumed correct, and the burden of proof is on the taxpayer to show that the Commissioner’s findings were erroneous. Helvering v. Taylor, 293 U.S. 507, 514-15, 55 S.Ct. 287, 290-91, 79 L.Ed. 623 (1935); Anselmo v. Commissioner, 757 F.2d 1208, 1211 (11th Cir.1985). A taxpayer seeking a refund must show not only that the Commissioner erred, but must establish the correct amount of the refund due. King v. United States, 641 F.2d 253, 259 (5th Cir. 1981) ; Crosby v. United States, 496 F.2d 1384, 1390 (5th Cir.1974). The claim must be substantiated by something other than tax returns, Lunsford v. Commissioner, 212 F.2d 878, 883 (5th Cir.1954), uncorroborated oral testimony, Griffin v. United States, 588 F.2d 521, 530 (5th Cir.1979), or self-serving statements. See Gibson v. United States, 360 F.2d 457, 462 (5th Cir.1966).

Mays does not dispute that the computer printout he submitted with his response to the government’s interrogatories was prepared after the tax audit; indeed, the “amount allowed by auditor” appeared on the face of the printout. His net worth statements did not refer to any original records, and he presented no contemporaneous documentation of his expenses or other evidence to establish that the Commissioners tax assessment was wrong or to establish the correct amount due. In sum, Mays did not overcome the presumption of correctness due determinations of the Commissioner. Rather, he has submitted only self-serving documents which do not substantiate his claims. Accordingly, the government was entitled to summary judgment.

AFFIRMED.

In Bonner v. City of Prichard, 661 F.2d 1206, 1209 (11th Cir.1981) (en banc), this court adopted as binding precedent all decisions of the former Fifth Circuit handed down prior to October 1, 1981.