Case: Court of Appeals Upholds Denial of Attorney’s Fees, Cites Lack of Genuine Liability

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld the Tax Court’s denial of attorney’s fees to a taxpayer who paid her husband, an attorney, for legal services in a joint tax deficiency proceeding. Taxpayer, an individual, sought to recover attorney’s fees under I.R.C. §7430 for legal services provided by her husband, an attorney, in challenging a joint tax deficiency notice. The couple filed a joint petition and prevailed when the IRS conceded that no deficiency was owed. Taxpayer then moved for attorney’s fees, submitting an invoice from her husband’s law firm and a personal check for that amount. ...