Represented a Major League Baseball team that deferred its income from advance season ticket sales (and the minimal associated expenses) until the related games were played. The IRS sought to require immediate inclusion of the ticket revenue. The Tax Court ruled in favor of the baseball team/taxpayer. The Tax Court rejected the IRS’s argument that under Schlude v. Commissioner, the Taxpayer was required to include the prepayments, and applied Artnell Co. v. Commissioner, since the receipts would have had to be refunded if the Taxpayer did not play the season, the facts of the case fit within the narrow Artnell exception to the Schlude principle.

Settled the multi-year R&D statistical sample audit for a Fortune 50 company. Although the expectation was that none of the 150 stat sample projects would be resolved during audit, our team was able to resolve 100%, saving staff time and outside expenses. Final stat sample results vastly exceeded expectations. The disallowance totaled only 19% of the originally filed QREs, which totaled in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Represented the IRS against a professional basketball player who created a personal services corporation similar to the one in Sargent v. Commissioner, which involved a professional hockey player). The Tax Court held for the IRS. Allen Leavell who played for the Houston Rockets in the NBA created a PSC for his services as a professional basketball player and to market his personal appearances and endorsement opportunities. Leavell was not only the sole shareholder of the PSC but also served as its president and treasurer. The Tax Court, while rejecting the ratio laid down in Sargent, took note of the authority of the Houston Rockets and the NBA to directly control Leavell’s on court services and concluded that Leavell was an employee of the Houston Rockets and not his PSC, and that the payments made to his PSC should be considered personal income and be subject to Income Tax. Leavell v. Commissioner 104 T.C. 140 (1995).