The Tax Court has canceled 15 trial sessions over the rest of March out of concern for the coronavirus.
On March 11 the court posted an announcement stating that it was canceling trial sessions in 13 cities: Philadelphia (two sessions); Hartford, Connecticut; San Francisco; Provo, Utah; Boston; Los Angeles (two sessions); Milwaukee; Pittsburgh; San Antonio; Chicago; Dallas; Detroit; and New York.
The sessions were scheduled to begin on March 16, 17, 23, and 30.
The release said that the Tax Court had considered both travel (the judges go to the city where a trial session is held) and public health issues. It noted the large number of people in the courtroom at a trial session, including the petitioners, IRS employees, lawyers (including volunteers and low-income taxpayer clinic representatives), witnesses, and court staff.
The court suggested that litigants scheduled for those trial sessions continue cooperating, adding that unresolved cases will be scheduled for later trial sessions.
Two days earlier, the Tax Court was one of several courts that posted advisories about operations in response to the spread of the coronavirus.
This is the second time in less than two years that the Tax Court has canceled trial sessions. At the beginning of 2019, the court canceled sessions because of a government shutdown.
Also on March 11, the Tax Executives Institute canceled its 2020 midyear conference scheduled for March 23 and 24 in Washington. While the group had planned to continue with the conference as recently as last week, it said the decision changed in light of the large amount of uncertainty regarding the coronavirus. TEI said it was “investigating options for how we might deliver content from the Midyear Conference.”