 If you battle the IRS in court and win, you might get the IRS to pay your reasonable administrative costs and reasonable litigation costs if you are a prevailing party. But you're not a prevailing party if the government shows that its position was substantially justified on the issues you won on. In a recent case, the tax court said the government met its burden to show that it was substantially justified both on its claim that a donated conservation easement was not qualified and that it was valued wrong.