March 1999

I was flattered by the invitation to enjoy a relaxing dinner at the Title 26 Inn with the Board of Tax Appeals. I had never met the BTA and I was looking forward to an entertaining evening listening to the grandmother of the United States Tax Court tell tales of the many famous cases that she had decided before retiring in 1942. I also hoped that she would be able to tell me some interesting stories of her son's tenure, the Tax Court of the United States, who had served from 1942 to 1969, and her grandson's tenure, the current United States Tax Court, who started his service in 1969. Upon my arrival at the Title 26 Inn, however, I learned that the BTA had an entirely different agenda planned for our dinner conversation.

"Good evening, Counselor," the BTA said as she extended her hand to greet me. "I'm delighted that you were able to accept my invitation. Let's get a table and get started."

Before I could reply she was headed to the main dining room of the Inn for the table she had reserved for our meeting. When we arrived at the table I started to tell her how excited I was to have the opportunity to speak with her about the early years of tax litigation.

She interrupted me in mid-sentence. "Oh, I'm sorry, Counselor," she said. "Perhaps we can discuss history some other time. Tonight I need your help to plan the 30th birthday bash for my grandson."

"Well...I...uh, I'm not really very good at planning birthday parties," I stammered, trying to hide my surprise and disappointment.

"Oh, I just need your help putting together the guest list," said the BTA. "I want to invite all of the relevant Internal Revenue Code provisions, Tax Court Rules, and other laws dealing with the subject matter jurisdiction of the Tax Court. I thought it would be simple, but the language of Internal Revenue Code section 7244, which sets forth the jurisdiction of the Tax Court, doesn't help much. It only states that:

"I also checked Tax Court Rule 13, entitled Jurisdiction," she continued. "It does a better a job of identifying the Court's jurisdiction but I'm certain that there are other matters over which the Court has jurisdiction."

"Your instincts are correct," I said. "The existing Tax Court Rules were effective August 1, 1998 but they only include amendments through September 12, 1997. Those amendments don't include all of the new jurisdictional provisions enacted by the 1997 and 1998 tax acts but the Tax court has recently issued interim rules to cover those new provisions."

"That's why I need your help, Counselor," she said with more than a hint of frustration in her voice. "My grandson is known to procrastinate now and then. I want to be sure that I invite everyone who should be invited ... even if my grandson hasn't yet gotten around to recognizing them in his rules!"

"Am I still getting a free dinner out of this?" I asked, only half in jest.

"Why of course, Counselor," she replied. "In fact, I want you at the birthday bash so I can redirect any complaints to you if we should overlook any important Code sections or Rules."

I decided to reserve on the decision of whether or not to attend the party, but I didn't see any graceful way out of helping with the guest list.

I told the BTA that the best way to approach the list was to arrange the relevant laws and rules into categories and subcategories similar to those set forth in Tax Court Rule 13 with, of course, any additions not presently recognized by that Rule.

"I believe there are seven major categories that break down into a total of twenty-five subcategories," I said.

"Twenty-five types of cases in seven general categories!" she shouted with surprise. "I don't think there were a half dozen types of cases assigned to my jurisdiction when I retired."

The BTA and I agreed that we would use an outline of the general categories and subcategories to create the guest list for the party.

"Well, one could argue with my categorization," I said in as humble a voice as I could feign, "and there is going to be some crossover, but here is how I would divide the subject matter jurisdiction of the Tax Court."

We then ordered our dinner and proceeded to discuss the details of the Tax Court's subject matter jurisdiction. I won't bore you with a verbatim narrative of that discussion. Instead, I'll just give you the list of guests and their table assignments.

1.Deficiency Cases

1.1 Income, Estate, and Gift Taxes

• IRC §6213(a)
• TCR 13(a)(1)
1.2 Excise Taxes under Chapters 41 to 44

• IRC §6213(a)
• TCR 13(a)(1)

2. Third-Party Liability Cases

2.1 Transferee Liability

• IRC §6901(a)
• IRC §6212(a)
• IRC §6213(a)
• TCR 13(a)(2)
• IRC §6901(a)(1)(A)
• IRC §6901(a)(2)
• NYS Fraudulent Conveyance Law
• Federal Debt collection Act - Title 28 U.S.C. §3301, et seq.

• IRC §6901(a)(1)(B)
• IRC §6212(a)
• IRC §6213(e)
• TCR 13(a)(2)
• Title 31 U.S.C. §3713(b)

3. TEFRA Cases

• IRC §6227(c)
• IRC §6228
• TCR 240 to 251

4. Review of IRS Denial of Special Relief

• IRC §7430(a)(1)
• IRC §7430(b)(4)
• IRC §7430(f)(2)
• TCR 270 to 274

5. Supplemental Proceedings

6. Declaratory Judgment Actions

7. Disclosure Actions