Morrissey v. United States

• Decision Date: 22 December 2016
• Docket Number: CASE NO. 8:15–cv–2736–T–26AEP
• Citation: 226 F.Supp.3d 1338
• Parties: Joseph F. MORRISSEY, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida

226 F.Supp.3d 1338

Joseph F. MORRISSEY, Plaintiff,

v.UNITED STATES of America, Defendant.

CASE NO. 8:15–cv–2736–T–26AEP

United States District Court, M.D. Florida, Tampa Division .

Signed December 22, 2016

David Paul Burke, Gary Lee Sasso, Scott D. Feather, Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, PA, Tampa, FL, Richard Donald Euliss, Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, PA, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.

Michael W. May, Steven C. Woodliff, Laura M. Conner, US Department of Justice—Tax Division, Washington, DC, for Defendant.

ORDER

RICHARD A. LAZZARA, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS CAUSE comes before the Court on Plaintiff Joseph F. Morrissey's Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 19), Defendant United States of America's Memorandum of Law in Opposition (Dkt. 22), Defendant's cross Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 23) and Plaintiff's Memorandum of Law in Opposition (Dkt. 28).

Background

Plaintiff, Joseph F. Morrissey, a homosexual male, brings this lawsuit against Defendant, United States of America, seeking a tax refund from the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") in the amount of $9,539 for the year 2011 based on an expense deduction in the amount of approximately $36,000 for medical care—in vitro fertilization ("IVF")—that he claimed under 26 U.S.C. § 213(a) of the Internal Revenue Code and was denied. Section 213(a) permits a taxpayer to deduct expenses paid "for the medical care of the taxpayer, his spouse, or a dependent." The IRS disallowed the deduction on grounds that the expenses Plaintiff paid were not for the medical care of any individuals covered by the statute. In the two-count Complaint, Plaintiff argues in count one that § 213(a) plainly authorizes the requested deduction. In count two he asserts that disallowing such a deduction amounts to a violation of his rights to due process and equal protection secured by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution because heterosexuals are allowed the deduction of medical expenses incurred in conceiving a child.

Plaintiff seeks the entry of final summary judgment in the amount of $9,539, plus interest and costs, an injunction preventing Defendant from continuing to discriminate against Plaintiff, and a declaration that Defendant's application of the statute was unconstitutional. Defendant, in turn, seeks the entry of final summary judgment in its favor, arguing that the IRS acted properly under the Internal Revenue Code in denying the requested deduction and that there is no basis for entry of an injunction or declaratory judgment.

Summary Judgment Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate where there is no genuine issue of material fact. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Where the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party, there is no genuine issue for trial. See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp. , 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (citation omitted). On a motion for summary judgment, the court must review the record, and all its inferences, in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. See United States v. Diebold, Inc. , 369 U.S. 654, 655, 82 S.Ct. 993, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962). Having carefully considered all of the parties' submissions, the Court finds there are no genuine issues which would preclude the entry of final summary judgment in favor of Defendant United States of America.

Statement of Facts

The parties have stipulated to the material facts of this case. Plaintiff Joseph F. Morrissey is a homosexual male. (Stipulation of Undisputed Facts, Dkt. 19, Ex. 1, ¶ 1.) Though not medically infertile, he cannot conceive a child by himself, and he is incapable of conceiving a child with his chosen life partner who is also male. (Id. at ¶¶ 4–5.) In 2010, Plaintiff and his partner decided to attempt to have a child through an IVF process which involved the use of an egg donor and a gestational surrogate who were not related to Plaintiff. (Id. at ¶ 6.) In 2011, Plaintiff paid a total of $56,853.01 related to that IVF process. (Id. at ¶ 16.) He also paid $1,248 in medical care expenses in 2011 which were not related to the IVF process. (Id. at ¶ 17.) The surrogate with whom Plaintiff contracted in 2011 did not carry a child to term. (Morrissey Declaration, Dkt. 19, Ex. 2, ¶ 15.)

Approximately $55,300 of the aforementioned expenses were for the medical care, identification and retention, compensation, or reimbursement of expenses incurred by the unrelated egg donor(s) and potential surrogate(s) in the IVF process. The expenses for medical care of the egg donors and surrogates included $330 paid for a potential surrogate's initial consultation, $521 for lab tests performed on a potential surrogate, $9,500 for egg donor services and testing, $400 for anesthesia services to be performed on the egg donor and/or surrogate(s), $1,575 for procedures to be performed on eggs retrieved from egg donor(s), and $3,700 for medications. (Stipulation of Undisputed Facts, Dkt. 19, Ex. 1, ¶¶ 7–10, 14–15.) Plaintiff also paid the agency that coordinated the egg donors' participation in the IVF process for items that were not strictly medical in nature, such as $9,500 in coordination fees for identifying and facilitating the retention of the egg donors and $2,100 in fees for coordination of the donors' psychological assessment, limited background check, legal representation, an insurance policy, and management of various trust account and tax forms. (Id. at ¶ 13.) Plaintiff paid $12,000 in compensation to the egg donors. (Id. ) Finally, Plaintiff paid $12,000 in 2011 to fund an expense account to reimburse any egg donor for her travel to Tampa and other expenses. (Id. at ¶ 13.)

On October 15, 2012, Plaintiff filed his Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return for the year 2011 ("Original Return") with the IRS. (Id. at ¶ 18.) Therein, he itemized the deductions totaling $34,600, but claimed no deductions for medical expenses. (Id. ) Plaintiff paid the total tax of $22,449 shown due on the Original Return. (Id. at ¶ 19.) On or about December 17, 2012, Plaintiff filed a Form 1040X Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return for 2011 ("Amended Return"). (Id. at ¶ 20.) The Amended Return claimed a refund of $9,539 attributable solely to the claimed medical expense deduction. (Id. at ¶ 22.) The IRS disallowed the claimed deduction and did not pay any refund to Plaintiff. Plaintiff then pursued an internal IRS appeal and, after receiving an adverse ruling, filed this lawsuit. (Id. at ¶¶ 22, 31.)

Discussion

The United States Supreme Court has established that " ‘the burden of clearly showing the right to the claimed deduction is on the taxpayer.’ " I NDOPCO , Inc. v. Comm'r. , 503 U.S. 79, 84, 112 S.Ct. 1039, 117 L.Ed.2d 226 (1992) (quoting Interstate Transit Lines v. Comm'r. , 319 U.S. 590, 593, 63 S.Ct. 1279, 87 L.Ed. 1607 (1943) ). Plaintiff fails to meet his burden. When interpreting a statute (or, in this instance, a section of the Internal Revenue Code) the Court must start with the plain language of the statute. See Warshauer v. Solis , 577 F.3d 1330, 1335 (11th Cir. 2009). Section 213(a) of the Internal Revenue Code allows taxpayers a deduction for "the expenses paid during the taxable year, not compensated for by insurance or otherwise, for medical care of the taxpayer, his spouse, or a dependent ...." Section 213(d)(1) defines medical care as amounts paid "for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or for the purpose of affecting any structure or function of the body[.]" (Emphasis added). Under the plain language of § 213, Plaintiff is not allowed the deduction requested.

Defendant correctly argues that the amounts claimed by Plaintiff as a deduction fall outside of the plain language of § 213 in two ways. First, the expenses Plaintiff paid for treatments and procedures performed on third-party egg donors and potential surrogates are not covered by section 213(a), which requires the expenses be paid for the medical care of Plaintiff, his spouse, or dependent. The language of § 213 plainly limits the deduction for medical expenses to amounts paid for the medical care of the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, or the taxpayer's dependent. Expenses paid for medical procedures performed on other individuals such as third-party egg donors and surrogates cannot be deducted. See Magdalin v. Comm'r , 96 T.C.M. (CCH) 491 (T.C. 2008), aff'd , 2009 WL 5557509 (1st Cir. 2009) ; see also , I NDOPCO , 503 U.S. at 84, 112 S.Ct. 1039 (holding that deductions, as matters of legislative grace, are to be strictly construed and only allowed if clearly within the provisions of the statute which authorizes them).

Second, the expenses at issue were not for diagnosis, cure, mitigation, or treatment of any disease of Plaintiff, his spouse, or dependent, nor did they affect a structure or function of the body of Plaintiff, his spouse, or dependent as required by § 213(d)(1). Plaintiff admits he has no disease to be diagnosed, cured, mitigated, treated, or prevented, but rather claims that as a homosexual man he is effectively infertile. He argues that, as a consequence, the amounts he paid for egg donors and surrogates affected a function of his body, specifically, his reproductive "function." To father a child using IVF, Plaintiff paid to have eggs harvested from third-party donor(s) fertilized with his sperm with the intent to have the resulting embryos implanted in the body of a third-party surrogate who would carry the fetus. As Defendant correctly asserts, although the collection of Plaintiff's sperm undeniably affected the structure and/or function of his body, the process ultimately and necessarily only affected the structure and function of the bodies of the third-party donors or chosen surrogate, who Plaintiff admits were neither a spouse nor dependent. Therefore, Plaintiff simply is not entitled to a deduction for those expense under the plain language of § 213(a).

Plaintiff offers no legal support for his argument...