MEMORANDUM FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION
HAINES, Judge: Respondent determined deficiencies in petitioner's Federal income taxes for 1999, 2000, and 2001 (years at issue) of $ 1,517,634, $ 3,859,291, and $ 1,737,726, as well as additions to tax under
After concessions, 2 the issues for decision are: (1) Whether respondent violated petitioner's due process rights when he failed to provide petitioner or his representative a notice of bypass pursuant to
FINDINGS OF FACT
Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. The stipulation of facts and the attached exhibits 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 210">*212 are incorporated herein by this reference. Petitioner resided in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, when the amended petition was filed.
During the years at issue, petitioner operated a commercial construction business as a sole proprietorship under the name Coastal Builders. Petitioner provided framing, drywall, plaster finishing, and painting services. Most of petitioner's business came from subcontract work for JPI Apartment Management and/or JPI Apartment Construction, L.P. (JPI).
In 2001, JPI initiated an internal audit of petitioner and discovered that the Social Security number he provided to JPI actually belonged to his son. On January 31, 2002, JPI filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and mailed to petitioner corrected Forms 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income, for 1999 and 2000, and an accurate Form 1099-MISC for 2001 using petitioner's Social Security number. JPI reported it paid petitioner $ 3,130,417, $ 8,240,832, and $ 2,573,626, in the respective years at issue.
Respondent subsequently initiated an examination of petitioner's years at issue. On June 13, 2002, respondent received petitioner's Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, for 2000 listing John 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 210">*213 W. Townshend, an accountant, as the representative to whom petitioner delegated a power of attorney. 3
On October 21, 2002, petitioner filed a Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, for 2001, including his Schedule C, which reported gross receipts of $ 4,196,750 and costs of goods sold and deductions totaling $ 4,238,057. 4
In late 2002, respondent's Revenue Agent, Dennis Bok, attempted to reach Mr. Townshend by telephone on 12 occasions. With each attempt, Agent Bok left a message stating his name, telephone number, and a brief message. Agent Bok received no response from Mr. Townshend. On January 3, 2003, Agent Bok prepared a memorandum for his superiors 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 210">*214 requesting a bypass of power of attorney in which he stated that Mr. Townshend, in not communicating with me, is attempting to delay and hindered [sic] my ability to complete the examination. I am requesting that the power of attorney for Mr. John W. Townshend be bypassed, as his apparent non-cooperation and lack of communication is delaying and hindering the examination process.
On January 24, 2003, respondent issued to petitioner a notice of audit with Form 4564, Information Document Request, informing petitioner his 2001 tax year was under examination and requesting he provide books, records, and other documentation with respect to Coastal Builders. At a March 24, 2003, meeting, between Mr. Townshend and Agent Bok, Mr. Townshend provided a 2001 general business ledger for Coastal Builders. The ledger had been prepared for the audit because petitioner did not keep contemporaneous books and records of Coastal Builders' business income and expenses. Although Agent Bok and Mr. Townshend discussed 1999 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 210">*215 and 2000, no documentation was exchanged.
On June 23, 2003, during the audit, respondent's Service Center in Ogden, Utah (Ogden Service Center), mailed a CP-2501 letter to petitioner indicating that JPI filed four Forms 1099MISC showing petitioner received $ 5,704,041 from JPI in 2001. The letter requested information explaining a discrepancy between the income reported on the Forms 1099-MISC and the income reported on petitioner's 2001 return.
In response, on June 30, 2003, Mr. Townshend mailed a letter to the Ogden Service Center explaining the discrepancies, 5 which included a copy of petitioner's 2001 Schedule C, and a record of petitioner's 2001 bank deposits with respect to Coastal Builders. The letter also stated petitioner's bank statements for 2001 were in respondent's possession and provided Agent Bok's contact information. On August 18, 2003, the Ogden Service Center mailed a CP-2005 Closing Notice for tax year 2001, which stated: Thank you for providing us with additional information about the issue we recently wrote you about. We are pleased to tell you that, with your help, we were able to clear up the differences between your records and your payers' records. * * *. If you 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 210">*216 have already received a notice of deficiency, you may disregard it. You won't need to file a petition with the United States Tax Court to reconsider the tax you owe. If you have already filed a petition, the Office of the District Counsel will contact you on the final closing of this case.
Although the investigation was closed by the Ogden Service Center, the overall examination of the years at issue continued, and Revenue Agent Byron W. Daniels replaced Agent Bok as the Agent performing the examination. Using the bank deposits method to reconstruct the income petitioner earned from doing business as Coastal Builders, Agent Daniels found that petitioner deposited income of $ 3,651,293, $ 9,409,882, and $ 4,316,813 into various bank accounts in the respective years at issue. Respondent did not issue to petitioner or Mr. Townshend a 30-day letter setting out Agent Daniels's findings.
On September 15, 2004, petitioner filed a Form 1040 for 1999 reporting a tax liability of $ 11,155. 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 210">*217 The 1999 return included petitioner's Schedule C for 1999 reporting gross receipts of $ 3,601,882 and costs of goods sold and expenses totaling $ 3,600,556. 6 Based upon respondent's bank deposits analysis, respondent determined that petitioner understated his Schedule C gross receipts in 1999 by $ 49,411. 7 Petitioner did not assert in his petition or offer evidence to show he did not understate his income in 1999.
Petitioner failed to file a return for 2000. Consequently, on June 15, 2005, respondent filed a substitute for return pursuant to
Respondent conceded that petitioner properly reported his Schedule C gross receipts of $ 4,196,750 in 2001. 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 210">*218 However, respondent allowed petitioner only $ 57,931 of the $ 4,238,057 he reported as Schedule C costs of goods sold and deductions in 2001. Using the ratio of the allowed amount to income for 2001 (1.38 percent), 8 respondent computed allowable business deductions for petitioner's 1999 and 2000 (as conceded) tax years of $ 50,388 and $ 124,336, respectively. 9
The notice of deficiency was issued on July 29, 2005. Petitioner timely filed his petition on October 25, 2005.
OPINION
Petitioner contends his due process rights were violated when respondent failed to provide him or his representative a notice of bypass for the years at issue pursuant to
If a taxpayer has a recognized representative, generally, the Commissioner contacts the taxpayer through his or her recognized representative.
Additionally, in a case where an IRS examiner and the taxpayer fail to agree upon the examiner's determination to assert a deficiency or an additional tax, an IRS district director will send to the taxpayer a "30-day letter".
The rules contained in the Statement of Procedural Rules, 26 C.F.R. part 601, et seq. (2001), are administrative directives and generally do not have the force and effect of law or create procedural protections for taxpayers.
Because
Petitioner contends that respondent's use of the bank deposits method to reconstruct his taxable income for 2000 was arbitrary and unreasonable.
When a taxpayer fails to maintain or produce adequate books and records, the Commissioner is authorized under
This Court has long accepted the bank deposits method of income reconstruction.
In the years at 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 210">*223 issue, petitioner did not maintain contemporaneous books and records for Capital Builders. The foundation for the deficiencies was derived from JPI's Forms 1099-MISC for petitioner's years at issue and respondent's bank deposit analysis for the same periods. Other than certain deposits conceded by respondent to be nontaxable, petitioner failed to produce evidence to show that any other bank deposit in 1999 or 2000 was nontaxable income. See
1. 2001 Closing Agreement
Petitioner contends that the August 18, 2004, closing notice issued by respondent's Ogden Service Center was a closing agreement within the meaning of
The Commissioner is authorized to enter into a closing agreement with any person regarding his or her liability for any taxable period.
The Commissioner has prescribed two types of closing agreements: (1) Form 866, Agreement as to Final Determination of Tax Liability, is used to determine conclusively a taxpayer's total tax liability for a taxable period; and (2) Form 906, Closing Agreement, is used if the closing agreement relates to one or more separate items affecting the tax liability 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 210">*225 of a taxpayer.
The parties did not execute either a Form 866 or a Form 906. The closing notice issued by respondent's Ogden Service Center did not constitute a closing agreement pursuant to
2.
Petitioner contends that respondent's Ogden Service Center's request for information and subsequent findings constituted an examination within the meaning of
The Court finds that respondent's Ogden Service Center's request to verify the discrepancy between petitioner's 2001 return and Forms 1099 was not an examination or inspection of petitioner's books of account. See
Respondent contends that petitioner did not substantiate the reported Schedule C costs of goods sold or deductions for 1999 and 2001 and failed to claim or substantiate any Schedule C costs of goods sold or deductions for 2000 in an amount greater than allowed by 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 210">*227 respondent.
The taxpayer is required to maintain records sufficient to enable the Commissioner to determine his correct tax liability. See
Petitioner did not keep contemporaneous books and records of his costs of goods sold or business deductions for the years at issue and did not testify at the trial. At trial, petitioner offered no evidence to substantiate the reported 1999 Schedule C costs of goods sold or deductions and did not claim or substantiate that petitioner had any Schedule C costs of goods sold or deductions for 2000.
To substantiate petitioner's 2001 Schedule C costs of goods sold and deductions, petitioner merely produced the 2001 business ledger prepared for the audit with Agent Bok without any supporting documentation, except for 18 Forms 1099-MISC reporting compensation paid to contract employees who performed services for petitioner in 2001. However, 8 of the 18 Forms 1099-MISC did not contain the Social Security numbers of the contract employees reported as receiving compensation, two sets of the Forms 1099MISC contained the same Social Security number for different names, and 7 of the Forms 1099-MISC did not contain addresses. 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 210">*228 The 18 Forms 1099-MISC were not filed with the IRS, and the contract employees indicated on the Forms 1099-MISC as receiving compensation were not listed as taxpayers in respondent's database.
The Court was not provided with any information about petitioner's business operation or how expenses were incurred. As a result, the Court did not have a reasonable basis upon which an approximation of an allowed amount of deductions could be made under
For the foregoing reasons, the Court finds petitioner failed to prove he was entitled to Schedule C costs of goods sold and deductions in an amount greater than allowed by respondent for the years at issue.
Respondent determined additions to tax pursuant to: (1)
Respondent established that petitioner failed to file timely Federal income tax returns for the years at issue. Respondent also produced a substitute for return pursuant to
Petitioner did not show reasonable cause for the failure to file timely returns for the years at issue or timely pay tax in 2000.
Under
Respondent introduced evidence to prove petitioner was required to file a Federal income tax return for 2000, did not file a Federal income tax return for 2000, and failed to make any estimated tax payments for 2000. However, in order to permit this Court to make the analysis required by
The Court concludes respondent met his burden of production. Petitioner did not dispute that he failed to make estimated tax payments for 2000 or assert that he fell within any statutory exception under
In reaching our holdings herein, we have considered all arguments made, and, to the extent not mentioned above, we find them to be moot, irrelevant, or without merit.
To 2007 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 210">*232 reflect the foregoing,
Decision will be entered under
1. Unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, and Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure. Amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.↩
2. Respondent concedes that petitioner's Schedule C, Profit or Loss From Business, gross receipts for 2000 were $ 9,009,882.
Respondent concedes petitioner properly reported his 2001 Schedule C gross receipts of $ 4,196,750.
Respondent concedes that because petitioner's extension for filing for 2001 was sought and granted, petitioner is liable for a 15-percent addition to tax under
3. Petitioner offered Forms 2848 for 1999, 2000, and 2001 into evidence which were dated Sep. 20, 2002, Oct. 20, 2001, and Oct. 20, 2001, respectively. However, the record indicates respondent only received a Form 2848 for 2000. The record also indicates that petitioner hired Mr. Townshend after Jan. 31, 2002. Thus, from the record it appears the Forms 2848 for 2000 and 2001 were incorrectly dated.↩
4. The latter amount comprised returns and allowances of $ 1,406, costs of goods sold of $ 3,765,466, and total expenses of $ 471,185.↩
5. Mr. Townshend explained to the Ogden Service Center that two of the Forms 1099-MISC were inaccurate and the other two were respondent's replacements containing petitioner's corrected earnings information for 2001.↩
6. The $ 3,600,556 comprised costs of goods sold of $ 2,932,248, and deductions of $ 668,308.↩
7. $ 3,651,293 (bank deposits) - $ 3,601,882 (reported Schedule C gross receipts) = $ 49,411 understatement↩
8. $ 57,931 (2001 allowable Schedule C items)/$ 4,196,750 (2001 Schedule C gross business receipts) = 0.0138 = 1.38 percent.↩
9. $ 3,651,293 (1999 Schedule C gross business receipts) x 0.0138 = $ 50,388; and $ 9,009,882 (2000 Schedule C gross business receipts) x 0.0138 = $ 124,336.↩
10. Respondent did not seek
11. In the