Opinion
3679-18
02-18-2022
HEINRICH C. SCHWEIZER, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Albert G. Lauber, Judge.
The central issue in this case concerns petitioner's entitlement to a charitable contribution deduction claimed on his 2011 Federal income tax return for the donation of artwork to a museum. See § 170(a)(1). By Order served June 15, 2021, the Court granted in part a motion for partial summary judgment filed by respondent. In that Order we held that petitioner, with respect to the claimed charitable contribution, had failed to comply with the substantiation requirements of section 170(f)(11) and Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-13 in that he neglected to: (i) obtain a qualified appraisal; (ii) attach a qualified appraisal to his 2011 return; and (iii) attach a fully completed appraisal summary to his 2011 return. However, we found that genuine disputes of material fact existed as to whether petitioner had reasonable cause to excuse these failures. See § 170(f)(11)(A)(ii)(II). We then restored the case to the general docket.
The case is now calendared on the Court's April 11, 2022, New York City trial session, at which the undersigned will be presiding. On February 2, 2022, the parties filed a joint Motion to Bifurcate, requesting that we address during the upcoming trial session only a subset of the remaining issues in this case. See Rule 141(b). Respondent represents that, if this subset of issues is resolved in his favor, no further trial may be necessary.
On February 16, 2022, the undersigned held a conference call with the parties to discuss the issues that needed to be addressed. During that call the parties requested that this case be set for an in-person trial at a time and date certain of Tuesday, April 12, 2022, at 10:00 A.M. Eastern time. In consideration of the foregoing, it is
ORDERED that this case is set for trial at a time and date certain of Tuesday, April 12, 2022, at 10:00 A.M. Eastern time, in Room 206, 2nd Floor, Jacob K. Javits Federal Building, 26 Federal Plaza, New York, New York 10278, during the Court's April 11, 2022, New York, New York, trial session, at which the undersigned will be presiding. The parties need not appear at the calendar call on April 11, 2022. It is further
ORDERED that the parties' joint Motion to Bifurcate, filed February 2, 2022, is granted in that the issues to be addressed at trial on April 12, 2022, will be limited to the following:
(1) Whether petitioner may be allowed a charitable contribution deduction for his 2011 donation of artwork, notwithstanding his failure to satisfy the reporting requirements of section 170(f)(11), by virtue of the exception set forth in section 170(f)(11)(A)(ii)(II), which provides that a deduction may be allowed "if it is shown that the failure to meet such requirements is due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect"; and
(2) If the first question is answered in the negative, so that no charitable contribution deduction is allowable, whether petitioner is liable for an accuracy-related penalty under section 6662(a).
This Order constitutes official notice of its contents to the parties.