Polsky v. United States

After the Polskys attempted to claim the child tax credit for the 2010 and 2011 tax years, the IRS issued a notice disallowing the credit because their daughter was older than 17. They submitted amended returns, specifically requesting that the IRS review whether their permanently disabled daughter qualified for the tax credit. According to the Polskys, the IRS refused to rule on the amended returns because they were substantially the same as the original returns. The Tax Court dismissed their petition because the IRS had not issued a notice of deficiency. In 2014, the Polskys, pro se, filed in the district court, alleging that the IRS erroneously disallowed the credit and violated their due process rights by preventing them from challenging the disallowance in Tax Court. The district court dismissed, holding that the credit is unavailable when the child has attained age 17 and that the Polskys failed to state a due process claim. The Third Circuit affirmed, rejecting an argument that that the tax credit’s definition of “qualifying child,” 26 U.S.C. 24, which has an age cap, incorporates section 152(c), which has no age cap for a person who is permanently disabled and that the second definition of “qualifying child” overrides the age cap in the tax credit. View "Polsky v. United States" on Justia Law