Motion for summary judgment denied. Court assessed monetary penalty against petitioner.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
MARVEL, Judge: This matter is before the Court on respondent's motion for summary judgment, filed pursuant to
Summary judgment is a procedure designed to expedite litigation and avoid unnecessary, time-consuming, and expensive trials.
Background
This is an appeal from respondent's determination upholding the proposed use of a levy to collect petitioner's unpaid Federal income tax liability for 1993 (the 1993 liability). When the petition in this case was filed, petitioner resided in San Diego, California.
Petitioner and Cheryl Kolker filed a joint Federal income tax return for 1993 showing a balance due. Respondent assessed the income tax liability shown on the return as well as interest and penalties/additions to tax.
Respondent sent petitioner a notice and demand for payment, but petitioner did not pay the 1993 liability. Consequently, respondent mailed to petitioner a Final Notice -- Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing, dated September 11, 2000, that, among other things, informed petitioner that respondent intended2004 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 301">*303 to levy to collect the 1993 liability and that petitioner could request a hearing with respondent's Appeals Office. On September 19, 2000, petitioner submitted a Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process Hearing (hearing request), but respondent has no record of having received it.
On May 21, 2003, petitioner sent respondent a copy of the hearing request. Because respondent had no record of having received the original request, respondent treated the May 21, 2003, correspondence as an equivalent hearing request.
Petitioner's equivalent hearing request was assigned to Settlement Officer Cynthia Chadwell (Ms. Chadwell). Ms. Chadwell had had no prior involvement with respect to petitioner's 1993 liability. By letter dated November 13, 2003, Ms. Chadwell scheduled a telephone hearing for December 4, 2003, and advised petitioner, among other things, as follows:
(1) The Appeals Office would not offer a face-to-face hearing if the only issues that petitioner wanted to address were frivolous or groundless;
(2) the hearing request was not received within the 30-day period provided in
(3) petitioner should complete and submit Form 433-A, Collection Information Statement for Individuals, with the documents required by the form; and
(4) petitioner should provide proof that he filed his 2001 and 2002 Federal income tax returns.
Petitioner responded to the November 13, 2003, letter by letter dated November 20, 2003. In that letter, petitioner requested a face-to-face hearing and stated that he had post office receipts to prove that he had timely requested a hearing under
Petitioner's hearing under
Respondent subsequently issued a Notice of Determination Concerning Collection Action(s) Under
Petitioner submitted a timely petition appealing respondent's determination, which we filed on April 1, 2004. In an addendum attached to the petition, petitioner asserted, inter alia, that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had not established that he was a taxpayer, that the hearing was a sham, that Ms. Chadwell was biased, and that the law did not create the alleged obligation.
On October 6, 2004, we received and filed respondent's summary judgment motion. By order dated October 6, 2004, we ordered petitioner to file a response to respondent's motion on or before October 27, 2004. Petitioner did not do so. 2 On November 3, 2004, we received and filed petitioner's motion to strike respondent's motion for summary judgment, which we denied on November 4, 2004.
2004 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 301">*307 Discussion
A.
Following a hearing, the Appeals Office must make a determination whether the proposed levy action may proceed. In so doing, the Appeals Office is required to take into consideration the verification presented by the Secretary, the issues2004 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 301">*308 raised by the taxpayer, and whether the proposed levy action appropriately balances the need for efficient collection of taxes with a taxpayer's concerns regarding the intrusiveness of the proposed levy action.
A hearing officer may rely on a computer transcript or Form 4340, Certificate of Assessments, Payments and Other Specified Matters, to verify that a valid assessment was made and that a notice and demand for payment was sent to the taxpayer in accordance with
In this case, the undisputed facts set2004 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 301">*309 forth in respondent's motion, declarations in support of the motion, and attached exhibits establish that respondent has satisfied the requirements of
In an addendum to his petition, petitioner listed the following reasons why the proposed levy should not be sustained:
(1) Respondent issued "arbitrary legal opinions" in that:
(a) Respondent determined that petitioner had not made a timely hearing request under
(b) despite repeated requests, respondent failed to produce any facts to support his opinion that petitioner was a taxpayer;
(c) petitioner was not permitted to inquire at the hearing what in the Constitution created his alleged obligation to file a return and pay tax;
(d) there is no evidence that the law created any obligation to file a return and pay tax;
(2) respondent asserted the same arguments in motions to dismiss filed in other cases;
(3) respondent delayed 3 years in providing the "sham" hearing in this case; and
(4) without facts, an assessment is arbitrary; an arbitrary assessment presents a justiciable controversy that the Court must decide.
With the exception of the argument regarding the timeliness of his hearing request, 3 all of petitioner's arguments are frivolous and groundless. See
Petitioner complains about the alleged bias of Ms. Chadwell and describes the hearing as a sham because Ms. Chadwell would not engage in a discussion of the legal basis for his "obligation" to file a tax return and pay tax. The transcript of the hearing amply demonstrates that Ms. Chadwell provided a meaningful opportunity to present relevant, nonfrivolous arguments why the levy should not be allowed to proceed, but petitioner repeatedly refused to provide2004 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 301">*312 any such arguments and the information necessary to support them. For example, despite several requests for information regarding petitioner's financial condition made both before and during the hearing, petitioner failed to provide it. When petitioner did not cooperate, Ms. Chadwell justifiably terminated the hearing. Her decision to terminate the hearing was not evidence of bias; rather, it demonstrated that there is a limit to the tax system's tolerance for unproductive and frivolous exchanges regarding a taxpayer's obligations to file returns and pay tax.
On this record, we conclude that there is no genuine issue of material fact requiring a trial in this case, and we hold that respondent is entitled to the entry of a decision sustaining the proposed levy as a matter of law.
B.
This is not the first time that petitioner has wasted the time of the Federal courts and the Commissioner with arguments like the ones made in this case. Petitioner attached to his petition a copy of a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, which was filed by respondent in Kolker v. Commissioner, docket No. 567-03, another case commenced by petitioner in this Court. In docket No. 567-03, petitioner made arguments identical in most respects to those raised in this case. We granted respondent's motion to dismiss and imposed a penalty of $ 10,000 under
Petitioner has had plenty of warning that he risked incurring a monetary penalty by making these arguments. Petitioner has repeatedly wasted the Federal tax system's resources, and his conduct deserves an appropriate and severe sanction. We shall require petitioner to pay to the United States a penalty under
An appropriate order and decision will be entered.
1. All Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure, and all section references are to the Internal Revenue Code.↩
2. Petitioner submitted a response to respondent's motion on Dec. 1, 2004, but it was returned to petitioner as untimely. On Dec. 17, 2004, petitioner submitted a document entitled "Petitioner's motion accept response as timely", which we filed as of that date and denied on Dec. 23, 2004. The response that was attached repeated the arguments contained in the petition and other submissions.↩
3. After reviewing petitioner's mailing receipts at the hearing, Settlement Officer Chadwell conceded at the hearing that petitioner had filed a timely hearing request under