The US Tax Court has disallowed a deduction for a contribution to a French pension plan and payment of French real estate taxes. Isabelle Bichindaritz v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (T.C. Memo 2005-298 dated 29 December 2005). The case involved a French citizen who was teaching at a US university. She claimed a deduction on her US tax return for a contribution to a French pension plan and also a deduction for the payment of French real estate taxes.

The Tax Court held that the contribution to the French pension plan was not deductible because the requirements of Secs. 219 and 518(c)(18) of the US Internal Revenue Code (IRC), dealing with contributions to pension plans, had not been met. The Tax Court also held that the requirements for a deduction under Art. 18 (Pensions) of the 1994 income tax treaty between the United States and France had not been met.

The Tax Court denied the deduction for French real estate taxes pa…