If the IRS is not backing down, Tax Court can start to feel less like a paperwork dispute and more like real litigation. That shift matters. A case that looked negotiable a few months ago may suddenly revolve around evidence, witnesses, deadlines, stipulations, and trial preparation.
For many taxpayers, that is the moment when the stakes become clear: the IRS is not conceding, Appeals did not fully resolve the dispute, and the case is moving closer to calendar call or trial. In general terms, that is also the point where preparation often becomes the difference between a manageable case and a chaotic one.
In this post you’ll learn how Tax Court cases typically progress when the government holds its position, what preparation often matters most, where self-represented taxpayers run into trouble, and how an attorney with documented experience in highly similar matters may help evaluate strategy, evidence, and settlement posture. If you want a foundation on the process itself, this overview of how Tax Court works before you pay the disputed tax provides useful background.
<aside> 💡 Scroll to the bottom for every post in this series.
</aside>
A lot of Tax Court cases still settle. In fact, the National Taxpayer Advocate reported that 75.8% of Tax Court cases closed by settlement in FY 2024, while only 0.8% were tried and 23.4% ended in dismissal or default. The same report noted that about 89% of taxpayers petitioning the Tax Court appeared pro se, meaning without counsel. Those numbers say two important things at once: most cases resolve without a full trial, and unrepresented taxpayers are very common in the system (Taxpayer Advocate Service Annual Report to Congress).
When the IRS “will not concede,” it often means one of several things:
Here’s what this often means in practice: the case becomes less about arguing in broad terms and more about proving specific facts in an admissible, organized way.
As trial gets closer, broad frustration with the IRS tends to matter less than issue-by-issue analysis. Tax Court cases are won, lost, narrowed, or settled based on defined disputes: unreported income, substantiation, worker classification, basis, passive loss limitations, innocent spouse issues, valuation, penalties, or something else entirely.
A useful early question is not “Why is the IRS being unreasonable?” but “What exactly remains disputed?”
The Tax Court’s sample pretrial memorandum asks parties to identify the amounts in dispute, status of the case, expected motions, status of stipulations, issues, witnesses, summary of facts, legal authorities, and evidentiary problems (U.S. Tax Court sample pretrial memorandum). That tells you what the Court expects parties to be ready to discuss.
Some taxpayers benefit from reducing the case to a chart with columns like: