Skipper v. Government of Virgin Islands
Skipper v. Government of Virgin Islands
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
This is a petition for redetermination of an income tax deficiency assessed by the Commissioner of Finance. The original petition alleged only that a deficiency was assessed because “certain itemized deductions and a farm loss” were disallowed and that petitioner desired a hearing on these disallowances. The Government admitted all the allegations and moved to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action. This motion to dismiss was withdrawn in open Court in favor of a motion for a more definite statement. The motion was granted and petitioner filed a document entitled “More Definite Statement By Petitioners.” This new statement contains a number of factual assertions apparently designed to put at issue the question whether the purchase and operation of a certain piece of property was a transaction entered into for profit, rendering losses in connection therewith deductible. Internal Kevenue Code § 165(c) (2). The Government has moved again to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action.
The questions presented are quite simple. What standard should be applied in ruling on petitions for redetermination of income tax deficiencies and has that standard been satisfied in this case.
Section 943(a) of Title 33 of the Virgin Islands Code provides that a “taxpayer may file a petition with the district court for a redetermination of [a] deficiency.” Section 944 states that the district court shall have jurisdiction to
Although petitioners’ two attempts to state their disagreement with the Commissioner’s deficiency assessment have probably failed to meet the rigorous standards enforced by the Tax Court, a less stringent rule must be applied in this case. Title 5, App. V, Rule 14 provides that proceedings before this Court which are authorized by Section 944 of Title 33 “shall be in the form of a civil action and shall be conducted in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.” Under Rule 8(a)(2) of the Federal Rules, it is necessary for a party seeking relief to file “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.”
It is difficult to see how, after two attempts, petitioners could fail to set forth a short and plain statement of their claim, yet they have come close to achieving this. Still, it is possible that the proper procedure under 33 V.I.C. § 943 was unknown to petitioners’ attorney and it would be unfair to penalize them for the deficiencies of their petitions. Thus, the petition will go forward as if it had alleged that the Commissioner improperly disallowed certain losses on
ORDER
For the reasons stated in the above Memorandum Opinion, it is hereby ORDERED that defendant’s motion to dismiss be and the same is hereby DENIED.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- CARTER L. SKIPPER and BARBARA J. SKIPPER v. GOVERNMENT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
- Status
- Published