T.C. Memo. 2003-213

UNITED STATES TAX COURT

EDWARD KAZUO OZAKI, Petitioner v.

COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent

Docket No. 10677-02. Filed July 16, 2003.

Edward Kazuo Ozaki, pro se.

James M. Klein, for respondent.

MEMORANDUM FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION

CHIECHI, Judge: Respondent determined the following deficiencies in, and additions to, petitioner’s Federal income tax

(tax):
- 2 -

1All section references are to the Internal Revenue Code in

effect for the years at issue. All Rule references are to the

Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.

2The only determinations in the notices of deficiency for

the years at issue that petitioner disputes relate to the additions to tax under secs. 6651(a)(1) and (2) and 6654(a). Respondent concedes the determinations under sec. 6651(a)(2). We

conclude that petitioner has abandoned contesting any remaining

determinations in the notices of deficiency for the years at

issue other than the determinations under secs. 6651(a)(1) and

6654(a).

 Additions to Tax 

Year Deficiency

Sec.

6651(a)(1)1

Sec.

6651(a)(2)

Sec.

6654(a)

1994 $9,397 $1,135.00 --- $276.79

1995 12,201 1,484.08 --- 361.11

1996 12,247 1,406.70 $1,563.00 349.34

1997 14,220 1,593.45 1,628.86 395.91

1998 15,372 1,722.60 1,301.52 386.40

1999 21,621 1,235.03 603.79 205.78

2000 20,063 1,471.95 327.10 270.37

The issues remaining for decision are:2

(1) Is petitioner liable for the addition to tax under

section 6651(a)(1) for each of the years at issue? We hold that

he is.

(2) Is petitioner liable for the addition to tax under

section 6654(a) for each of the years at issue? We hold that he

is.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Most of the facts have been deemed established pursuant to

the Court’s Order under Rule 91(f) dated February 26, 2003. 

At the time petitioner filed the petition in this case, he
- 3 -

resided in Chicago, Illinois.

Throughout the years at issue until the time of the trial in

this case, petitioner, who received a master’s degree in music

from Northwestern University, has worked as a sales manager and

as a singer/composer.

During World War II, when petitioner’s mother was 13 years

old, and when petitioner’s father was 17 years old, the U.S.

Government confined each of them and their respective families in

certain Government facilities because of their Japanese ancestry. 

Petitioner’s parents made petitioner aware of their respective

experiences in those facilities.

The last tax return (return) filed by petitioner was for his

taxable year 1991. Petitioner did not file a return for any of

the taxable years at issue, although he received timely one or

more Forms W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, and one or more Forms

1099-NEC, Non-Employee Compensation, for each of those years.

No physician or psychologist has made a determination that

petitioner suffered from a mental illness or condition that

prevented him from complying with the tax laws for the years at

issue.

Respondent sent to petitioner a notice of deficiency (notice) for petitioner’s taxable years 1994 and 1995, a separate

notice for petitioner’s taxable years 1996, 1997, and 1998, and a

separate notice for petitioner’s taxable years 1999 and 2000. In
- 4 -

those notices, respondent determined that for the years indicated

petitioner received the following amounts of taxable income from

the following sources:

Tax Year 1994

Source Amount

Bands and Bows $1,500

Orchestral Assoc. 5,425

United Bindery 39,940

Walt Disney 

 Pictures

 401

1st Commercial 83

Total Income $47,349

Tax Year 1995

Source Amount

Bands and Bows $800

Orchestral Assoc. 9,981

Fleur De Lys 775

United Bindery 45,700

1st Commercial 20 

Total Income $57,276 

Tax Year 1996

Source Amount

Bands and Bows $1,600

Orchestral Assoc. 7,528

United Bindery 48,725

1st Commercial 15

Total Income $57,868

Tax Year 1997

Source Amount

Bands and Bows $1,440

Orchestral Assoc. 10,729

United Bindery 51,620

1st Commercial 17

Oak Park Temple 1,080

Total Income $64,886
- 5 -

3There was a mathematical error in computing the total

income of petitioner for the tax year 2000 that appeared in the

facts deemed established under Rule 91(f). The correct total

income of petitioner for that year, i.e., $85,441, as determined

in the pertinent notice, is used here.

Tax Year 1998

Source Amount

Orchestral Assoc. $4,739

United Bindery 56,061

1st Commercial 22

Oak Park Temple 1,578

St. Ferdinand’s 5,242

Total Income $67,642

Tax Year 1999

Source Amount

Chicago Sinai 

 Congregation

 $300

St. Ferdinand’s 1,735

United Bindery 78,469

Orchestral Assoc. 7,369

Oak Park Temple 1,480

1st Commercial 28

Total Income $89,381

Tax Year 2000

Source Amount

Chicago Sinai 

 Congregation

 $75

United Bindery 75,175

Orchestral Assoc. 7,651

Oak Park Temple 1,630

1st Commercial 41

Halevi Choral 690

Chicago Sinai 

 Congregation

 150

Half Note Music 29

Total Income 3$85,441 
- 6 -

4The record does not disclose when respondent commenced an

examination of each of the years at issue. We proceed on the

assumption that respondent’s examination of each of those years

commenced after July 22, 1998, and that sec. 7491(c) is applicable in the instant case.

The record establishes that petitioner did not file a tax

return or pay estimated tax for any of the years at issue. We

conclude that respondent has satisfied respondent’s burden of

production under sec. 7491(c).

OPINION

Petitioner has the burden of proving that respondent’s

determinations under sections 6651(a)(1) and 6654(a) are wrong.4

Rule 142(a); Welch v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 111, 115 (1933).

Petitioner claims that his failure to file a return for any

of the years at issue and to pay estimated tax for each such year

is attributable to his “mental illness caused by failure of U.S.

Government to acknowledge that violation of constitutional and

civil rights of Japanese Americans during World War 2 has debilitating and demoralizing effects on the child (Edward Kazuo Ozaki)

of U.S. concentration camp survivors.”

With respect to the determinations at issue under section

6651(a)(1), mental illness or mental incapacity can constitute

reasonable cause for the failure to file a return. Williams v.

Commissioner, 16 T.C. 893, 906 (1951); see Carlson v. United

States, 126 F.3d 915, 922 (7th Cir. 1997) (addressing reasonable

cause exception with respect to failure to pay tax under section

6651(a)(2)). However, if the taxpayer is able to exercise
- 7 -

ordinary care and prudence with respect to nontax matters, the

claimed mental illness or mental incapacity does not constitute

reasonable cause. See Carlson v. United States, supra at 923. 

Except for his self-serving testimony, on which we are

unwilling to rely, petitioner has introduced no evidence establishing that he had a mental illness or mental incapacity which

prevented him from filing a return for each of the years at

issue. In fact, the record establishes that, throughout the

years at issue until the time of the trial in this case, petitioner has worked as a sales manager and as a singer/composer and

has almost doubled his income throughout that period. On the

record before us, we find that petitioner has failed to carry his

burden of proving that he suffered from a mental illness or

mental incapacity which prevented him from filing a return for

each of the years at issue. On that record, we further find that

petitioner has failed to prove that he is not liable for the

addition to tax under section 6651(a)(1) for each of those years.

With respect to the determinations at issue under section

6654(a), on the record before us, we find that petitioner has

failed to show that any of the exceptions in section 6654(e)

apply in the instant case. On that record, we further find that

petitioner has failed to prove that he is not liable for the

addition to tax under section 6654(a) for each of the years at

issue.
- 8 -

To reflect the foregoing, respondent’s concession, and the

issues deemed abandoned by petitioner, 

Decision will be entered

under Rule 155.