NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION
To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1
United States Court of Appeals
For the Seventh Circuit
Chicago, Illinois 60604
Submitted August 30, 2017*
Decided September 1, 2017
Before
DIANE P. WOOD, Chief Judge
WILLIAM J. BAUER, Circuit Judge
FRANK H. EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge
No. 17‐1930
CHRISTIAN C. IBEAGWA, Appeal from the United States Tax Court.
Petitioner‐Appellant,
No. 19914‐14
v.
Elizabeth Crewson Paris,
COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL Judge.
REVENUE,
Respondent‐Appellee.
O R D E R
On his income tax return for 2011, Christian Ibeagwa claimed a $4,664 credit for
federal excise taxes supposedly paid on fuel purchased from 2005 through 2009.
He says he paid these taxes when he bought more than 27,000 gallons of propane to fuel
a space heater that his church used during adult‐education classes, a use he asserts is
* We have agreed to decide this case without oral argument because the briefs
and record adequately present the facts and legal arguments, and oral argument would
not significantly aid the court. See FED. R. APP. P. 34(a)(2)(C).
No. 17‐1930 Page 2
nontaxable. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue disallowed any credit, and the
Tax Court upheld that decision.
We cannot find a coherent argument in Ibeagwa’s brief, but plainly his appeal is
meritless. A person who pays excise taxes on fuel used for a nontaxable purpose may
claim a refundable credit on his individual return for the tax year in which the fuel is
used. See 26 U.S.C. §§ 34(a), 6427(a); 26 C.F.R. § 48.6427‐3(a). But Ibeagwa concedes that
he did not use any propane in 2011.
Moreover, even if Ibeagwa had timely amended his tax returns for the years
when he purportedly used the fuel, the Tax Court reasonably disbelieved his outlandish
assertion that he spent over $25,000 on propane for a space heater. See JPMorgan Chase &
Co. v. C.I.R., 530 F.3d 634, 638 (7th Cir. 2008) (recognizing that taxpayer has burden of
disproving Commissioner’s deficiency determination). A taxpayer seeking a credit for
previously paid excise taxes must keep records sufficient to establish (1) the number of
gallons of fuel purchased for nontaxable purposes, (2) the dates of purchase, and (3) the
name and address of each vendor from whom fuel was purchased. 26 C.F.R.
§ 48.6427‐5. The only records Ibeagwa provided were bank statements showing that on
three occasions in late 2009 and early 2010 he purchased about $13 worth of unspecified
goods or services from a company called Tulsa Power Service. We review the
Tax Court’s factual findings for clear error, Gyorgy v. C.I.R., 779 F.3d 466, 480 (7th Cir.
2015), and on this scant evidence the Tax Court could not have erred in rejecting
Ibeagwa’s testimony.
Ibeagwa also has not explained why he would have paid excise taxes on any fuel
he bought for the church. The parties reference 26 U.S.C. § 4041(a), which imposes a tax
on the sale of alternative fuels “to an owner, lessee, or other operator of a motor vehicle
or motorboat for use as a fuel in such motor vehicle or motorboat.” § 4041(a)(2)(A)(i)
(emphasis added). Ibeagwa says he bought the propane in 14‐gallon canisters for
heating use, so it seems unlikely that he would have been charged a tax that applies
only to fuel sold for use in motor vehicles.
AFFIRMED.
Christian Ibeagwa v. CIR
Combined Opinion