Even persons of fewer academic achievements than Judge Albert G (“Scholar Al”) Lauber and my distinguished colleague Peter Reilly, CPA, (“The Forbes Flash”) will remember the ten-year journey of Ulysses.

Well, today His Honor Big Julie Judge Julian I Jacobs (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “HHBJJJIJ”) imposes a like hiatus upon Katrina E. Taylor & Avery Taylor, Docket No. 20967-16, filed 7/26/18.

Kat & Ave have a Cadillac truck and a Beemer with odometers that take me back to the used car lots of my youth; they record mileages that HHBJJJIJ finds it hard to credit.

“The purported logs, which were not prepared contemporaneously with Mrs. Taylor’s purported travel, state that Mrs. Taylor drove 130,513 miles on … business: she allegedly drove a 2004 Cadillac truck 41,483 miles and drove a 2006 BMW 89,030 miles. The logs are demonstrably unreliable. For example, when petitioners traded in the 2004 Cadillac truck, Mrs. Taylor signed an odometer disclosure statement which reported the odometer reading at the time of sale to be 102,345 miles; according to the logs, the truck’s December 23, 2013 year end odometer reading was 154,990 miles. Similarly, when petitioners traded in the 2006 BMW, the odometer disclosure statement reported the odometer reading to be 91,333 miles; the purported logs stated that as of December 17, 2013, the odometer read 186,880 miles.

“Moreover, the distances traveled as listed in the logs do not accurately represent the distances between petitioners’ home and the purported business destinations, as demonstrated by the exhibits attached to respondent’s Motion to Take Judicial Notice. We are satisfied that the mileage reported in the logs is inflated. For example, the logs state that Mrs. Taylor drove the 2004 Cadillac truck 1,376 miles and drove the 2006 BMW 701 miles, a total of 2,077 miles, on September 22, 2013. As respondent points out, the driving distance between Manhattan, New York, and Los Angeles, California, is approximately 2,800 miles and ‘[a]t a constant speed of 70 miles per hour (‘MPH’) it would take 29.7 hours to drive 2,077 miles.’ Further, the logs report trips of 1,200 miles to 1,800 miles for other days.” Order, at p. 4.

You must remember the story of the lawyer denied admission to Heaven for misrepresentation; he told St Peter he was 76 years old when he died, but his billing sheets showed he had billed enough hours to have lived to 107.

No, the 10-year sit-down arises because Kat & Ave jiggered the car mileage to get down to EITC country, and got a $4K credit thereby. Section 32(k)(1)(B)(I) imposes the ten-year freeze-out for gameplaying with the EITC. So Kat & Ave must wait ten (count ’em, ten) years before EITC comes around again. Of course, IRS has the burden of proof by preponderance of the evidence.

HHBJJJIJ: “After reviewing the entire record, we conclude that the facts deemed to have been established, combined with the affirmative allegations of fraud, and the affirmative allegations that petitioners improperly claimed the earned income credit and should be subject to the 10-year ban on claiming the earned income credit that petitioners are deemed to have admitted under Rule 90(c), collectively satisfy respondent’s burdens of production and proof as to each and every issue in this case. We therefore will grant respondent’s Motion for Default Judgment and enter a decision against petitioners.” Order, at pp. 5-6.