1999 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 233">*233 An appropriate order will be issued and decision will be entered for respondent.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
LARO, JUDGE: Mr. Kersting petitioned the Court on April 16, 1996, to redetermine respondent's determination of deficiencies in1999 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 233">*235 petitioner's Federal income tax for 1982 through 1988. Respondent determined petitioner had unreported income in connection with his tax shelter promotion activities. The resulting deficiencies in income tax and additions to tax are as follows:
Additions to Tax
________________________________________________
Year Deficiency
____ __________ _______________ _______________ ____________
1982 $ 454,752 $ 113,688 $ 22,738 $ 44,274
1983 855,081 213,770 42,754 52,325
1984 960,807 240,202 48,040 60,407
1985 1,045,458 261,365 52,273 59,909
1986 787,428 196,857 39,371 38,097
1987 101,574 25,394 5,079 5,489
1988 28,064 7,016 1,403 1,794
1999 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 233">*236 We decide the following issues:
1. Whether the presumption of correctness attaches to respondent's deficiency determination. We hold it does.
2. Whether petitioner's gross income includes receipts from tax shelter promotion activities as determined by respondent in the following amounts:
Year Amount
___ _____
1982 $ 916,997
1983 1,720,483
1984 1,932,671
1985 2,101,968
1986 1,585,676
1987 266,681
1988 83,045
We hold it does.
3. Whether
4. Whether petitioner is liable for additions to tax for failure to file under
5. Whether petitioner is liable for additions to tax for negligence under
6. Whether petitioner is liable for additions to his 1982 through 1988 taxes under
Unless otherwise stated, section references are to the Internal Revenue Code in effect for the years in issue. Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure. Dollar amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.
BACKGROUND
Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. The stipulated facts and exhibits submitted therewith are incorporated herein by this reference. Petitioner resided in Honolulu, Hawaii, when he petitioned the Court.
Petitioner was a promoter and manager of investment plans designed to create interest deductions for plan participants. 1 Petitioner has not filed a tax return since 1975. In January 1981, special agents of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation Division, executed a warrant to search petitioner's corporate offices. Among the documents seized were lists of participants in the tax shelter programs. Audits of these participants resulted in the filing in this Court of approximately 1,800 petitions. In 1989, 14 dockets involving eight petitioners1999 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 233">*238 with similar adjustments were selected as test cases, consolidated for purposes of trial, briefing, and opinion, and set for trial under the name Dixon v. Commissioner. The issue in Dixon was whether the interest deductions generated by the Kersting investment plans were allowable.
While the Dixon taxpayers were awaiting trial, the IRS on May 15, 1987, petitioned the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii (District Court) for leave to serve a John Doe summons on petitioner. In its petition, the IRS alleged that petitioner was promoting tax shelters of questionable validity and that it sought the summoned documents in order to identify taxpayers participating in petitioner's1999 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 233">*239 investment plans.
The District Court enforced the John Doe summons over the objections of petitioner and third-party intervenors. The District Court's enforcement order was affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, but the appellate court remanded the case to the District Court to determine whether petitioner had already complied with the summons and thus rendered the appeal moot. See
Following service of the John Doe summons, the IRS determined that petitioner was engaged in promoting abusive tax shelters from 1982 through 1988. Based on his determination that the 33 corporations involved in the investment plans were alter egos of petitioner, the Commissioner attributed income from the corporations to petitioner as follows: $ 916,997, $ 1,720,483, $ 1,932,671, $ 2,101,968, $ 1,585,676, $ 266,681, and $ 83,045 for the years 1982 through 1988, respectively. The Commissioner also assessed penalties in excess of $ 3.8 million against petitioner pursuant to sections 6700 and 6701. Petitioner paid $ 22,398, a portion of the sections 6700 and 6701 penalties, and brought suit in 1999 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 233">*240 the District Court for refund of the amounts paid (Kersting I, Civ. No. 90-00304 HMF). The United States filed a counterclaim in the amount of $ 2,329,700 to reduce the section 6701 penalties to judgment, and it brought a separate action to reduce the section 6700 penalties to judgment (Kersting II, Civ. No. 92-00593 HMF). The 33 corporations involved in the investment plans brought a wrongful levy action pursuant to section 7426 seeking various remedies (Pacific Paradise, Civ. No. 91- 00747 HMF). The three cases were consolidated and are hereinafter referred to as Kersting (Consolidated Cases).
The Dixon taxpayers tried their cases before this Court in January 1989. In
(Consolidated Cases) was tried in the District Court before Judge Harold M. Fong in a nonjury trial commencing May 10, 1994, and concluding June 17, 1994. During the course of the trial, the District Court considered and denied a number of motions filed by petitioner. See
The government has demonstrated that Kersting derived as gross
income through his corporations $ 3,478,036.25 from his abusive
programs from September 4, 1982, through July 18, 1984, and
$ 5,129,483.70 thereafter. Applying the appropriate percentages *
* * Kersting therefore is liable in the amount of $ 1,373,700.41
pursuant to section 6700.
Though he has the burden of proof in this area, Kersting
presented no credible evidence of what he considered was the
gross income derived or to be derived from his programs. In
fact, Kersting's own testimony strongly suggested that he
generated much more income from his programs than was included
by the1999 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 233">*243 IRS in its calculations and that the Section 6700 penalty
is substantially understated.
Judgment for the Government was entered on September 30, 1994, and an appeal by Mr. Kersting (and others) of the judgment is pending before the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
On September 14, 1995, respondent issued a notice of deficiency to petitioner that determined deficiencies and additions to tax based on gross income attributable to petitioner through the 33 corporations.
DISCUSSION
PRESUMPTION OF CORRECTNESS
Petitioner moves to shift the burden of proof to respondent. The parties agree respondent based his determination of unreported income on the District Court's findings in Kersting (Consolidated Cases). Petitioner contends respondent's sole reliance on those findings makes the determination arbitrary and erroneous so as to shift the burden of proof to respondent. 3 We disagree.
1999 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 233">*244 Respondent's determination is generally presumed correct, and the taxpayer has the burden of proof. See Rule 142(a);
Petitioner's contention that respondent's determination is arbitrary and erroneous1999 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 233">*245 is without merit. Petitioner stipulated to the District Court's opinion in Kersting (Consolidated Cases) and stipulated to nearly the entire record in Kersting (Consolidated Cases), including voluminous testimony and exhibits. After an extensive examination of the voluminous record, the District Court released a detailed 107-page opinion, and respondent's determination is based squarely thereon.
During trial of this case, petitioner neither presented witnesses nor made any meaningful attempt to rebut the overwhelming evidence supporting respondent's determination, evidence to which petitioner stipulates. Respondent has amply demonstrated the requisite "predicate evidence" supporting his determination. Petitioner nonsensically argues the determination is arbitrary because there was evidence of higher gross income in Kersting (Consolidated Cases), yet the District Court adopted the more conservative figures. He further argues that irregularities exist in respondent's method of income reconstruction in Kersting (Consolidated Cases). These arguments fail to refute the fact that respondent has connected petitioner to the income-producing activity and has amply demonstrated the determination1999 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 233">*246 of unreported income is grounded in fact. Because the determination in this case stands securely on a foundation of concrete evidence, we hold that the presumption of correctness attaches to respondent's determination and the burden of proof rests with petitioner.
GROSS INCOME
Respondent argues petitioner is collaterally estopped from relitigating the issue of whether he had gross income during 1982 through 1988 in the amounts determined by the District Court in Kersting (Consolidated Cases). Petitioner agrees the elements of collateral estoppel are satisfied but argues the judgment in Kersting (Consolidated Cases) has no preclusive collateral estoppel effect because the judgment was obtained by fraud allegedly perpetrated by the Government on the District Court. We disagree. 4
1999 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 233">*247 "Collateral estoppel and the related doctrine of res judicata have the dual purpose of protecting litigants from the burden of relitigating an identical issue and of promoting judicial economy by preventing unnecessary or redundant litigation."
In
Petitioner concedes Peck's five-prong analysis is satisfied. 5 However, citing Montana's "special circumstances" exception, petitioner objects to the application of collateral estoppel on the ground that the judgment in the prior case was obtained by perpetrating fraud upon the court. On brief, petitioner identifies two instances of what he claims was fraud perpetrated on the District Court. First, petitioner claims that during Kersting (Consolidated Cases), the Government used grand jury material obtained in violation of
1999 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 233">*250 Petitioner's allegations of fraud upon the court concern allegedly false statements or representations made by the Commissioner's agents or counsel for the Government either prior to or during the trial of Kersting (Consolidated Cases). Petitioner's claims of fraud on the court have previously been considered and rejected by the District Court. See
BUSINESS EXPENSES
In various pretrial pleadings, petitioner argued generally he was entitled to offsetting deductions for bad debts and business expenditures of the nominee corporations that were not taken into account by respondent when computing the unreported income. Petitioner's interest in this issue waned by the time of trial in this case as he presented no witnesses and neither listed this as an issue nor presented any legal argument on this point on brief. 6
1999 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 233">*252 Petitioner invites the Court implicitly to wade through the numerous checks in the record, calculator in hand, to come up with the purported amounts of alleged business expenses. We decline this invitation. See
ADDITIONS TO TAX
In case of failure * * * to file any return * * * on the date
prescribed therefor * * *, unless it is shown that such failure
is due to reasonable cause and1999 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 233">*254 not due to wilful neglect, there
shall be added to the amount required to be shown as tax on such
return 5 percent of the amount of such tax if the failure is for
not more than 1 month, with an additional 5 percent for each
additional month or fraction thereof during which such failure
continues, not exceeding 25 percent in the aggregate. Sec.
6651(a)(1).
To escape the addition to tax for filing late returns, petitioner has the burden of proving (1) that the failure to file did not result from wilful neglect, and (2) that the failure was due to reasonable cause. See
For all relevant years, petitioner failed to file returns. The record in this case is void of any evidence of the reason for this failure. Thus, the record is void of evidence that the failure was for reasonable cause. We sustain respondent's determination of additions to tax under
Respondent determined additions to tax for negligence for 1982 through 1988. Respondent determined petitioner's underpayment of income tax in each year was due to negligence or intentional disregard of rules or regulations. For 1982 through 1985,
With respect to returns that have due dates after December 31, 1986 (e.g., petitioner's 1986 and 1987 tax returns), section 1503(a) of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, Pub. L. 99-514, 100 Stat. 2085, 2742- 2743, replaced former
With respect to returns that have due dates after December 31, 1988 (e.g., petitioner's 1988 tax return), section 1015(b)(2)(A) of the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988 (TAMRA), Pub. L. 100-647, 102 Stat. 3342, 3569, replaced former
For purposes of all of these provisions, negligence connotes a lack of due care or a failure to do what a reasonable and ordinarily prudent person would do under the circumstances. See
Respondent determined an addition to tax against petitioner under
We have considered all arguments made by petitioner, and, to the extent not addressed above, find them to be without merit.
To reflect the foregoing,
AN APPROPRIATE ORDER WILL BE ISSUED AND DECISION WILL BE ENTERED FOR RESPONDENT
1. Respondent also determined that the time sensitive addition
to tax under
and that the time sensitive addition to tax under section
6653(a)(1)(B) applied to 1986 and 1987.↩
1. See
2. For violations occurring before July 19, 1984, sec. 6700 imposes a penalty of 10 percent of the gross income derived or to be derived by the taxpayer from an abusive tax shelter. For violations occurring after July 19, 1984, sec. 6700 imposes a penalty of 20 percent of the gross income so derived.↩
3. Petitioner does not assert that respondent failed to "determine" the amount of deficiency pertaining to the years at issue as required by sec. 6212(a). Compare
4. The Court previously denied respondent's motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of whether petitioner is collaterally estopped from relitigating his gross income for 1982 through 1988. We now reconsider that issue with the benefit of the complete record.↩
5. It is settled law that the District Court's judgment is considered to be final for purposes of the application of collateral estoppel. See
6. Liberally construing his brief, we glean the total of petitioner's "argument" on this point from the following six requested findings of fact:
* * * * * * *
17. The corporations employed and paid attorneys to represent them and/or Henry Kersting.
18. The corporations paid the legal fees of attorneys who represented some of the test-case petitioners in Dixon v. Commissioner.
* * * * * * *
20. The corporations paid rent on office space during the years in question.
21. The corporations paid for telephone service during the years in question.
* * * * * * *
29. In determining the income derived or to be derived by the corporations, the Commissioner did not take into account any deductions that the corporations would have had for ordinary business expenses.
30. The Commissioner was required to take into account those business deductions which the Commissioner had evidence of when determining the alleged deficiency of Kersting.
Petitioner's Post-Trial Brief, pp.4-5 (citations omitted)↩
7. The findings in Kersting (Consolidated Cases) that none of the nominee corporations kept adequate books and records, and that petitioner used the nominee corporations to pay his personal living expenses render petitioner's claim to legitimate business expenses particularly suspect.↩