Opinion
7732-23
11-16-2023
DEVIN D. BROWN, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Emin Toro Judge
This case is currently calendared for trial during the Gout's March 18, 2024, Houston, Texas, trial session. On June 27, 2023, respondent filed an Answer (Doc. 6). Paragraph 1 of the Answer stated: "Alleges that attached as Exhibit A is a complete copy of the notice of deficiency dated April 10, 2023, except that the copy has been redacted in accordance with Rule 27, tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure." But the Answer did not in fact contain an Exhibit A.
On November 14, 2023, respondent filed a document styled "Amendment to Answer" in which he purported to
striken the prayer [included in the Answer] and add Q after paragraph 7 the following allegations:
8. FURTHER ANSWERING the petition, alleges that attached hereto as EXHIBIT A is a copy of the Notice of Deficiency for this case dated April 10 2023, which has been redacted in accordance with Tax Court Rule 27.
The filing of the Amendment to Answer was not accompanied by a motion for leave to file it and is therefore improper. Nor does it appear to the Court that amending the Answer is necessary. Rather, in effect, the Answer needs to be supplemented to include the exhibit that was previously omitted. In view of the foregoing, the Court will recharacterize respondent's November 14 filing as an Exhibit to Answer.
Upon due consideration, it is hereby ORDERED that respondent's Amendment to Answer is recharacterized as respondent's Exhibit to Answer.