TAX COURT OPINION

Case: Regina B. Grice
Docket Number: 19317-06
Judge: Colvin
Opinion Type: bench
Filed: 07/08/2008
Pages: 5

UNITED STATES TAX COURT WASHINGTON, D .C . 2021 7 RE CORDE D BARNABAS D . GRICE, ET AL , Petitioners , V . Docket No . 19293-06 19317-0 6 COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE , Respondent . O R D E R Pursuant to Rule 152(b), Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure, it is ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall transmit herewith to petitioners and to respondent a copy of the pages of the transcript of the trial of the above case before Judge Diane L . Kroupa at Detroit, Michigan on June 23, 2008, containing her oral findings of fact and opinion rendered at the conclusion of trial . In accordance with the oral findings of fact and opinion, an appropriate order and decision will be entered for respondent . (Signed) Diane L. Kroupa Judg e Dated : Washington, D .C . July 8, 2008 SERVED JUL - 8 2008 3 1 Bench Opinion by Judge Diane L . Kroupa June 23, 2008 2 Grice et al v . Commissioner Docket No . 19293-06 3 Docket No . 19317-06 4 THE COURT : The Court has decided to render 5 oral findings of fact and opinion in thes e 6 consolidated cases and the following represents th e 7 Court's oral findings of fact and opinion . These oral 8 findings of fact and opinion shall not be relied upon 9 as precedent in any other case . 10 This bench opinion is made pursuant to the 11 authority granted by section 7459(b) of the Internal 12 Revenue Code and Rule 152 of the Tax Court Rules o f 13 Practice and Procedure . All section references are to 14 the Internal Revenue Code for the years at issue and 15 all Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules o f 16 Practice and Procedure . 17 Barnabas D . Grice and Regina B . Gric e 18 appeared on their own behalf, and Gary Begun appeared 19 on behalf of respondent . 20 FINDINGS OF FACT 21 The record establishes that responden t 22 issued petitioners a statutory notice of deficiency 23 dated June 22, 2006, in which respondent determine d 24 deficiencies in Federal income tax against petitioners 25 for 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 Heritage Reporting Corporatio n (202) 628-4888 4 1 (these eight years shall be referred to as the years 2 at issue .) Respondent also determined in th e 3 deficiency notice that petitioners were liable for the 4 late payment addition under section 6651(a)(2), th e 5 addition for failure to pay estimated taxes unde r 6 section 6654 and the penalty for fraudulent failure to 7 file under section 6651(f) for each of the years a t 8 issue . 9 During the hearing on respondent's motions 10 for partial summary judgment, petitioner Mr . Grice 11 refused to testify on the grounds that they are not 12 required to incriminate themselves . In petitioner Mr . 13 Grice's words, petitioners had no income and there is 14 no requirement for them to maintain records because 15 respondent never put petitioners on notice that they 16 had a recordkeeping requirement or filing requirement . 17 Simply put, petitioners question whether they ar e 18 subject to the Internal Revenue laws . Simply put, 19 they are . Secs . 61(a), 6001, 6012 and 6072 . 20 Petitioners were warned in a December 20, 21 2006 Order that the Court was inclined to gran t 22 respondent's motions for partial summary judgment, not 23 only with respect to the deficiencies in income taxes, 24 but also with respect to the additions to tax 25 ("penalties"), specifically including the additions to Heritage Reporting Corporatio n (202) 628-4888 5 1 tax for fraudulent failure to file under sectio n 2 6651 ( f) . The Court cited Funk v . Commissioner , 123 3 T .C . 213, 218 ( 2004 ) and Swain v . Commissioner , 118 4 T .C . 358 ( 2002) . 5 We are aware that respondent filed motions 6 for partial summary judgment . The Court, on its own 7 motion, nonetheless grants summary judgment t o 8 respondent with respect to all determinations made in 9 the deficiency notice including the fraudulent failure 10 to file addition under section 6651 ( f) . Courts have 11 the inherent authority to issue orders as they dee m 12 necessary and prudent to achieve the orderly an d 13 expeditious disposition of their cases . See Roadway 14 15 16 Express , Inc . v . Piper , 447 U .S . 752, 764 , 765 (1980) ; Link v . Wabash R .R . Co . , 370 U .S . 626, 629-632 ( 1962) ; Williams v . Commissioner , 92 T .C . 920, 932-933 (1989) . 17 We may enter an order for summary judgment on our own 18 motion . See, e .g ., Wong v . Commissioner , T .C . Memo . 19 2000-236 . 20 To give effect to the foregoing, decisions 21 will be entered for respondent and an appropriat e 22 order will be issued granting respondent summary 23 judgment . 24 This concludes the Court's oral findings of 25 fact and opinion in these consolidated cases . Heritage Reporting Corporatio n (202) 628-4888 1 (Whereupon, at 2 :22 p .m ., the bench opinion 2 in the above-entitled matter was concluded . ) 6 3 // 4 5 // 6 7 // 8 // 9 // 1 0 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 / / 18 19 20 / / 21 // 22 // 23 // 24 // 25 // Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888