Decision will be entered for respondent.
JACOBS,
The issues for decision are (1) whether petitioner received unreported income totaling $35,792; (2) whether petitioner is liable for the fraud penalty pursuant to
All section references are to the Internal Revenue Code (Code) in effect for 2007, and all Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.
At the time he filed his petition, petitioner resided in Arizona.
On his timely 2010 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 274">*275 filed 2007 Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, petitioner reported total income of $661. Petitioner claimed a standard deduction of $5,350 and a personal exemption of $3,400. Petitioner reported $3,049 of Federal income tax withholding; and because the Form 1040 showed zero taxable income, petitioner claimed a $3,049 refund.
Petitioner's 2007 Form 1040 was manifestly false. In actuality, petitioner received $2,730 in nonemployee compensation from CAVU, Inc., 1 $12,019 in taxable retirement income from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (an agency of the Department of Defense), $20,183 in taxable retirement income from American Century Services, L.L.C., and $860 in wages from Aziza Dujmic-Palm View Assisted Living. These income items were reported to respondent by the respective payors.
Instead of attaching copies of the documents he received from the third-party payors, petitioner attached to his Form 1040 the following documents that were created and signed by him: (1) A "corrected" Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income, purporting to be from CAVU, Inc., reporting no nonemployee compensation; (2) a "corrected" 2010 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 274">*276 Form 1099-R, Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc., purporting to be from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service reporting no gross distribution and no taxable amount but reporting $1,032 in Federal income tax withheld; (3) a series of "corrected" Forms 1099-R purporting to be from American Century Services TEFRA Agent collectively reporting no gross distributions and no taxable amount but reporting $3,048.76 in Federal income tax withheld; and (4) a Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, or Form 1099-R, Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc., indicating that petitioner received no income from Aziza Dujmic-Palm View Assisted Living. 2
Respondent examined petitioner's 2007 Form 1040 as an underreporting of income case. On March 30, 2009, respondent sent petitioner a CP2000 notice stating that the amount of income 2010 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 274">*277 petitioner reported on his 2007 Form 1040 did not match the amount of income paid to petitioner as reported on documents received from third-party payors. The notice requested that petitioner explain the reason therefor by April 29, 2009. Petitioner failed to do so.
On June 8, 2009, petitioner filed a Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, for tax year 2007 in which he overreported both his gross income and his Federal income tax withholding. Attached to the Form 1040X were several documents purporting to corroborate this overreporting: (1) A Form 1099-OID, Original Issue Discount, purporting to be from Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., showing original issue discount of $72,000 and Federal income tax withheld of $71,900; (2) a Form 1099-OID purporting to be from Bank of the West showing original issue discount of $60,604.84 and Federal income tax withheld of $60,504.84; and (3) a Form 1099-A, Acquisition or Abandonment of Secured Property, purporting to document a loan of property from petitioner to Bank of the West showing a balance of principal outstanding of $60,604.84 and the fair market value of property to be $60,504.84.
Petitioner created the documents in an obvious 2010 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 274">*278 attempt to mislead the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) into believing he was entitled to a $90,190 tax refund. The IRS did not accept the Form 1040X as valid. Instead, respondent sent petitioner a notice of deficiency on June 22, 2009.
Petitioner timely petitioned this Court, and a trial was held on April 20, 2010. Petitioner refused to cooperate in the required pretrial stipulation process. See
At trial petitioner filed frivolous motions and raised frivolous objections. Petitioner refused to testify, call witnesses, or proffer any meaningful or credible evidence.
As noted
The Commissioner's determinations in his notice of deficiency are presumed correct, and the taxpayer bears the burden of proving, by a preponderance 2010 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 274">*279 of the evidence, that these determinations are incorrect.
In the absence of adequate records, the Commissioner may reconstruct income using any method that is reasonable in the light of all the surrounding facts and circumstances. 2010 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 274">*280
The uncontested evidence demonstrates that petitioner received wages from Aziza Dujmic-Palm View Assisted Living, nonemployee income from CAVU, Inc., and retirement income (i.e., pension income) from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service and American Century Services, L.L.C., in the amounts respondent determined. These payments constitute income and generally are taxable as such. See
The Commissioner has the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that (1) an underpayment exists the year in issue, and (2) that some portion of the underpayment is due to fraud. See
Respondent has established that petitioner (1) grossly understated his income; (2) failed to cooperate with respondent's agents during the examination of his 2007 Form 1040; (3) filed a false 2007 Form 1040 to which were attached phony documents (i.e., the "corrected" Forms 1099-R, 1099-MISC, and the Form 4852); and (4) filed a false 2007 Form 1040X together with false documents (i.e., 2010 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 274">*283 the phony Forms 1099-OID and Form 1099-A). Petitioner engaged in a pattern of conduct by which he attempted to defraud the Federal Government.
Respondent has met the standard of showing by clear and convincing evidence that petitioner intentionally filed a fraudulent Form 1040 for 2007. Petitioner presented no evidence or arguments to show that any part of the underpayment is not due to fraud. Accordingly, we hold that petitioner is liable for the
Petitioner's 2010 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 274">*284 case is frivolous. Petitioner failed to abide by the Court's Rules (i.e.,
Petitioner through his chicanery has wasted the Court's limited resources. We therefore require petitioner to pay a penalty pursuant to
To reflect the foregoing,