Litigating Cancellation of Indebtedness Income

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Matthew L. Roberts

Matthew L. Roberts

Principal

469.998.8482
mroberts@freemanlaw.com

Mr. Roberts is a Principal of the firm. He devotes a substantial portion of his legal practice to helping his clients successfully navigate and resolve their federal tax disputes, either administratively, or, if necessary, through litigation. As a trusted advisor he has provided legal advice and counsel to hundreds of clients, including individuals and entrepreneurs, non-profits, trusts and estates, partnerships, and corporations.

Having served nearly three years as an attorney-advisor to the Chief Judge of the United States Tax Court in Washington, D.C., Mr. Roberts leverages his unique insight into government processes to offer his clients creative, innovative, and cost-effective solutions to their tax problems. In private practice, he has successfully represented clients in all phases of a federal tax dispute, including IRS audits, appeals, litigation, and collection matters. He also has significant experience representing clients in employment tax audits, voluntary disclosures, FBAR penalties and litigation, trust fund penalties, penalty abatement and waiver requests, and criminal tax matters.

Often times, Mr. Roberts has been engaged to utilize his extensive knowledge of tax controversy matters to assist clients in their transactional matters. For example, he has provided tax advice to businesses on complex tax matters related to domestic and international transactions, formations, acquisitions, dispositions, mergers, spin-offs, liquidations, and partnership divisions.

In addition to federal tax disputes, Mr. Roberts has represented clients in matters relating to white-collar crimes, estate and probate disputes, fiduciary disputes, complex contractual and settlement disputes, business disparagement and defamation claims, and other complex civil litigation matters.

Weiderman v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2020-109 | July 15, 2020 | Ashford, J. | Dkt. No. 14432-14

Short SummaryMrs. Weiderman accepted an executive marketing position with K-Swiss in 2006.  Under the terms of her employment offer, K-Swiss agreed to assist the Wediermans in their relocation to California, providing them with a $500,000 interest-free loan to help finance the purchase of a new residence.  K-Swiss and Mrs. Weiderman later executed a promissory note, dated February 15, 2007, which discussed the terms and conditions of the loan including that the loan was due and payable in full in one lump-sum payment on the earlier of February 15, 2017, or the effective date of her termination (whether voluntary or non-voluntary).  After the loan disbursement, the Weidermans used the loan proceeds to purchase a residence in California.

But on December 1, 2008, K-Swiss terminated Mrs. Weiderman’s employment.  Accordingly, K-Swiss demanded full payment of the $500,000 loan.  Ultimately, Mrs. Weiderman and K-Swiss agreed (through various settlement negotiations) that K-Swiss would cancel $285,000 of the loan with proceeds from the sale of the California residence satisfying the remaining loan balance.

In 2009 and 2010, Mr. and Mrs. Weiderman also claimed various business deductions on Schedules C.

Key Issue:  Whether the taxpayers:  (1) must include in gross income COD income of $255,000 and $30,000 for 2009 and 2010, respectively; (2) are entitled to deduct certain expenses they reported on their 2009 and 2010 Schedules C, Profit or Loss From Business; and (3) are liable for accuracy-related penalties.

Primary Holdings

Key Points of Law:

InsightThe Weiderman decision is a good illustration of the difficulties a taxpayer may face in attempting to fall within an exclusion to COD income under Section 108.  Taxpayers should be aware that in many instances (as in this case), the lender will issue a Form 1099 alerting the IRS that the debt has been cancelled.  In such a case, the IRS will often look to the debtor’s tax return to determine whether the COD income has been properly reported.  In many cases, with proper tax planning, taxpayers can provide better arguments and documentary proof to meet an exception under Section 108.