Tax Court Says IRS's Unclear Instructions Are No Excuse For Taxpayer's Mistake

According to Tax Prof, in the case of Jellen v. Commissioner, the U.S. tax court ruled that unclear instructions from the IRS is not a valid excuse for a taxpayers mistake. Check out a quote from the ruling below.

Petitioner's only argument is that respondent's instructions and guidance to taxpayers as to the taxability of Social Security benefits are confusing and unclear and therefore that the Social Security disability benefits he received in 2004 and 2005 should not be subject to taxation under section 86(a).

We are sympathetic with petitioner's complaint about unclear guidance to taxpayers that occasionally appears in respondent's instructional publications, but petitioner is not thereby excused from paying required Federal income taxes on the Social Security benefits he received. We sustain respondent's adjustments to petitioner's Federal income taxes for 2004 and 2005.