Originally published on Forbes.com.

Like many tax practitioners, I am pretty compulsive about attaching everything to tax returns that is called for in the instructions.  Unlike some, I almost as compulsive about not attaching anything that is not required.  Frankly, though, while there can sometimes be dire consequences for not attaching something, often there is a “No harm. No foul.” sort of attitude.  For example, many states that allow residents credits for taxes paid to other states require that the other state return be attached.  In my experience, failure in that regard can be addressed by sending it in with the notice that you receive.

Tax Court Is RigorousThey are a lot less easygoing when it comes to tax court petitions. That is what Marco Frausto learned in a decision last week.   He was representing himself.

Mr. Frausto had received two notices of deficiency.  One was for himself.  The other was for Marco A. Frausto, Inc.  I think I have identified the company, which adds a bit of irony, but I have not received any response to my inquiry, so I will leave that as an exercise for my diligent readers.  The notice of deficiency is also known as the “90-day letter”, because that is how long you have to file a Tax Court petition.  That is a deadline you don’t want to fool with.  Trust me.

Mr. Frausto did not blow the deadline, but he had other problems.

A single petition was filed with the Court on May 22, 2015, in the name of Marco A. Frausto and signed by Marco A. Frausto in his individual capacity. However, attached to the petition was the notice of deficiency addressed to the corporation. The petition does not have attached to it the notice of deficiency addressed to Mr. Frausto.

At the time he filed the petition, Mr. Frausto resided in California. The Court is unable to determine in which State the corporation is incorporated.

For whatever it is worth there is a Colorado corporation by that name with a California address, but, of course, maybe that is not the one.

A Little Bit Of Help 

It seems like the Court tried to help him.  The caption of the case was changed to include both him and the eponymous corporation.  But in the end, he didn’t do enough to help himself.

In order to determine whether Mr. Frausto maintains the capacity to represent the corporation under Rule 60(c), we must first apply the proper State law. The record, however, does not show in which State, if any, the corporation was organized. In fact, Mr. Frausto chose not to attend the hearing where he could have provided the relevant information. Thus, in the absence of any evidence to support our jurisdiction over the corporation, we hold that Mr. Frausto does not have the capacity under Rule 60(c) to litigate in this Court on behalf of the corporation.

The Importance of Showing Up

As Woody Allen said80% of success is showing up”.  The other 20% did not go so well either.

Similar to the taxpayers in Normac, Mr. Frausto did not attach the appropriate notice of deficiency to the petition. Furthermore, the petition does not indicate the amounts determined against him individually nor the amounts of the deficiencies he is contesting. In fact, the petition makes no reference at all to the notice of deficiency addressed to Mr. Frausto in his individual capacity. And much like the taxpayer in O’Neil, Mr. Frausto does not set forth allegations of error as to the deficiencies determined against him individually. Accordingly, we find that we lack jurisdiction over Mr. Frausto in his individual capacity as well.

There is an old joke about people making out checks to the electric and gas companies and then sending the electric check to the gas company and visa-versa in order to buy time.  That is just a little like what Mr. Frausto did.  Turns out it does not work well with the Tax Court.  They’ll turn off your lights and your heat.

Other Coverage

I’ve pretty much got an exclusive on this hot story. I asked Lew Taishoff, who covers a high proportion of Tax Court decisions if he was going to do anything on it.  He wrote me that he was passing on it, because he thought that Mr. Frausto had already suffered enough.