Petitioning Tax Court can be hazardous–to your wallet if not to your health. And not just to attorneys, as to whom see my blogpost “Practicing In Tax Court Can Be Hazardous”, 1/28/14.

Case in point: Dwight A. Newby & Sally A. Newby, Docket No. 5153-14, filed 4/23/14. Yes they are, but I’ve forsworn the obvious pun. I’ve no desire to incur a judicial beat-down as a result of lame attempts at humor, such as Judge Posner laid on poor whimsical Judge Wherry in Superior Trading LLC in the Seventh Circuit. See my blogpost “There Goes The Neighborhood”, 9/3/13.

The point of all this? Oh yeah, the point; almost forgot.

Dwight and Sally A. sent in their petition and the requisite $60.00 check, which the clerks at 400 Second Street, N.W., fell upon and negotiated with their wonted celerity.

A month or so later, Dwight and Sally A. sent in an Application for Waiver of the filing fee, and affidavit in support thereof.

Even if said Application was meritorious (and Ch Judge Michael S. (“Iron Mike”) Thornton isn’t telling), “(U)nfortunately, however, Tax Court procedures and systems do not contemplate the issuance of refunds of filing fees once paid, thus rendering petitioners’ application moot.” Order, at p. 1.

As Judge Gustafson recently reminded us in one of the Joe Insigna episodes, Tax Court can’t cut checks or tell anyone else to do so. See my blogpost “We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Badges”, 4/2/14.

So Dwight and Sally A. are out the $60.00.

Takeaway- When preparing petition, check out the form of Application for Waiver and Affidavit, at http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/forms/Application_for_Waiver_of_Filing_Fee.pdf

And if you qualify, you can save the $60.00.