1994 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 18">*18
Ps were held liable for
102 T.C. 499">*499 SUPPLEMENTAL OPINION
Cohen,
We now consider whether petitioners1994 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 18">*19 are liable for additions to tax under section 6651(a)(1) because of their failure to file excise tax returns on Form 5330. Petitioners contend that (1) the section 6651(a)(1) addition to tax does not apply to
102 T.C. 499">*500 1.
Section 6651(a)(1) provides for an addition to tax in the case of failure to file any return required under the authority of subchapter A of chapter 61, unless it is shown that such failure is due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect. Section 6011(a), which is part of subchapter A of chapter 61, provides that, when required by regulations prescribed by the Secretary, any person made liable for any tax shall make a return according to the forms and regulations prescribed by the Secretary. Section 54.6011-1(b), Pension Excise Tax Regs., provides that every disqualified1994 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 18">*20 person (as defined in
2.
The parties have stipulated that petitioners did not file returns for 1986 through 1988 reporting
Section 6058(a) requires every employer who maintains a profit-sharing plan, or plan administrator, to file an annual return stating such information as the regulations may prescribe with respect to the qualification, financial condition, and operations of the plan. Section 301.6058-1(a)(1), Proced. & Admin. Regs., states that the annual return required to be filed for the plan is the appropriate Annual Return/Report of Employee1994 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 18">*21 Benefit Plan (Form 5500 series).
If a disqualified person with respect to a plan has participated in a prohibited transaction, two separate returns are required to be filed with respect to profit-sharing plans. A Form 5330 is required to be filed by the disqualified person, reporting the tax imposed by
Section 6501 provides the general rule that requires assessment of tax within 3 years of the date a return is filed. Section 6501(l)(1) provides that, for purposes of tax imposed by
Petitioners contend that a return that is adequate to begin the running of the period of limitations is also adequate to prevent a section 6651(a)(1) addition to tax. Petitioners rely on a series of cases that create a judicial line of authority for treating certain documents as returns for statute of limitations purposes. See, e.g.,
We have held that certain documents that do not comply with requirements contained in the regulations will nevertheless be treated as "returns" for statute of limitations purposes when the documents satisfy a four-part Supreme Court test applied in
First, there must be sufficient data to calculate tax liability; second, the document must purport to be a return; third, there must be an honest and reasonable attempt to satisfy the1994 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 18">*23 requirements of the tax law; and fourth, the taxpayer must execute the return under penalties of perjury. [
Petitioners argue that these statute of limitations cases are significant because, in the
102 T.C. 499">*502 The circumstances here, however, are distinguishable from those in
The forms filed by the trust for 1987 and 1988 are not in the record. Thus, petitioners have failed to prove that 1994 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 18">*24 those returns contained sufficient data to calculate their excise tax liability. We have, however, taken judicial notice of the Form 5500-R for 1987 and Form 5500-C for 1988 prescribed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The 1987 Form 5500-R, on line 7, requires the plan to report fiduciary information in a "yes or no" format. We have no reason to believe that the trust answered these questions in a way that would disclose petitioners' transactions with the trust. The dollar amounts of the transactions engaged in with fiduciaries are not requested on the 1987 Form 5500-R. Because the
The 1988 Form 5500-C, on line 29, does request dollar amounts of certain transactions entered with employers, fiduciaries, and the five highest paid employees. We have no reason to believe that petitioners' transactions with the trust were disclosed on the Form 5500-C filed by the trust for 1988. Thus, we cannot conclude that the trust's return would provide sufficient data, in this case, 1994 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 18">*25 for the computation of the
Petitioners cite
Even though the Form 5500 series returns do not provide for the calculation of excise taxes, we have held that the 6-year period of limitations applies when excise tax liabilities are not disclosed on such returns.
We conclude that the Forms 5500-R and 5500-C that were filed here do not satisfy the judicially created test of what constitutes a return for statute of limitations purposes.
Respondent contends that, in any event, section 6501(l)(1) relates solely to the statute of limitations and operates independently of the return and payment requirements of section 54.6011-1(b), Pension Excise Tax Regs., for disqualified persons who have participated in prohibited transactions. Respondent compares section 6501(l)(1) to section 6501(g)(2), which also relates to time limitations 1994 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 18">*27 on assessment and collection and provides:
If a taxpayer determines in good faith that it is an exempt organization and files a return as such under section 6033, and if such taxpayer is thereafter held to be a taxable organization for the taxable year for which the return is filed, such return shall be deemed the return of the organization
Subsections (l)(1) and (g)(2) of section 6501 are similar in that both permit "noncomplying" returns to constitute returns for statute of limitations purposes. Moreover, both sections seem to limit their scope to statute of limitations purposes. Subsection (g)(2) of section 6501 provides that the 102 T.C. 499">*504 noncomplying return will constitute a return "for purposes of this section", while subsection (l)(1) of section 6501 provides that "the return referred to in this section" will be the non-complying return.
We addressed the interaction of section 6501(g)(2) with the section 6651(a)(1) addition to tax in
Subsection (l)(1) (then (n)(1)) of section 6501 was added to the Code by the Tax Reform Act of 1969, Pub. L. 91-172, sec. 101(g)(1), 83 Stat. 525. Thus, Congress enacted section 6501(l)(1) after publication of
3.
To avoid liability for section 6651(a)(1) additions to tax, petitioners must thus demonstrate that they had reasonable cause not to file excise tax returns. Petitioner Donald Berlin did not testify and presented no evidence as to his reasons for failing to file the required returns. Petitioner Arthur S. Janpol (Janpol) testified that he engaged in his own research 102 T.C. 499">*505 and concluded that the statute did not apply to loans to a plan by disqualified persons, even though the U.S. Department of Labor had expressly advised him that such loans were prohibited. He testified that, when he was advised by the U.S. Department of Labor that he could not lend money to the plan:
I said, That doesn't mean that. I said, That is the silliest thing I ever heard of. And -- but they kept insisting that I was doing something wrong, 1994 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 18">*30 and I still to this day know that I haven't.
Janpol also testified that none of his attorneys or accountants advised him to file excise tax returns. He did not, however, testify that any competent tax professional advised him that it was not necessary to file the returns. See
To reflect the agreement of the parties and our determinations in
*. This opinion supplements