On September 30, 2020, the Tax Court issued a Memorandum Opinion in the case of Stevenson v. Commissioner (T.C. Memo. 2020-137). The issue before the court in Stevenson v. Commissioner was whether the IRS Whistleblower Office abused its discretion in rejecting the petitioner’s claim on the ground that he did not provide information regarding any Federal tax violation. Background to Stevenson v. Commissioner Although there are some pro se petitioners who have surprised me with their legal acumen this year, Mr. Stevenson is not one of them. While others were playing chess, Mr. Stevenson was not even playing checkers; instead, he was rather intensely engaged in a game of charades with himself. In March 2019, the petitioner filed a Form 211 (Application for Award for Original Information). Whether he scrawled on the form with magic marker, leaving little doodles in the margins, or whether he generally made about as much…