 The taxpayer sought to have the government pay its litigation costs as a prevailing party. The tax court disagreed. You're not a prevailing party if the government shows that its position was substantially justified on the issues you won on. The tax court said the government met its burden to show that it was substantially justified both on its claim that the easement was not a qualified easement and on the valuation issue. So the IRS didn't have to pay the taxpayer's costs. When it comes to tax, you might be both a winner and a loser at the same time.