Yesterday, the Third Circuit reversed the Tax Court precedential opinion in Gregory v. Commissioner, 152 T.C. No. 7 (2019). The decision provides a complete victory for the Gregorys but a less complete victory for all taxpayers. The Third Circuit’s seven- page opinion is not precedential and relies heavily on the specific facts present in the Gregory case. Still, in overturning the Tax Court’s precedential opinion the decision calls into question the IRS effort to change long-standing case law and its own practice via a revenue procedure. The decision offers the IRS the chance to rethink its administrative practice. It might cause the Tax Court to rethink its precedential opinion should another last known address case make its way to the Court.
We have previously written about this case here and here. You can read the prior post or the opinion to get the facts. The Tax Clinic at the Legal Services Center of Harvard argued this case on appeal. The briefs are here, here and here. We are excited for our clients. Oliver Roberts, the student who argued the case, did a fantastic job. You can hear the argument here and Oliver’s recap here. We will have a longer post on the case later.