Reply to the Answer
Sometimes the respondent will make allegations against you in his answer that were not made in the notice. If he does, you have 45 days to deny those allegations with a Reply to the Answer. If you don’t reply, respondent can move the court to deem any allegations he made admitted. According to Rule 37(c), if you don’t respond, the court will assume you denied them. And, if the respondent moves the court to deem those allegations admitted, the judge will almost certainly give you an opportunity to respond. But everything else being equal, it’s best not wait for a Tax Court judge to give you that opportunity. If there are any allegations in the Answer you don’t think are true, you want to deny them in a formal Reply to the Answer. You submit the reply to the court using a captioned form just like the petition. You will have a docket number by this time, so include that number on your reply and on all future formal submissions to the court. As you did in the petition, list your replies in order referencing the numbers or letters in the Answer to which you are responding. Your reply need only deny new allegations. It’s not the place to raise legal arguments, and there’s no need to repeat what your petition stated.
The words you see above IN BLUE are active hyperlinks in the E-Book version of "ON YOUR OWN IN TAX COURT." The E-Book edition contains extensive links to statutes, regulations, case law, and other useful authorities and resources. There is also an Appendix of actual court documents submitted by both sides. The purchase of the book includes a free half hour consultation with the author about your case.