TAX COURT OPINION

Case: Wendy Lee Walsh
Docket Number: 4097-07S
Judge: Colvin
Opinion Type: bench
Filed: 06/26/2009
Pages: 5

UNITED STATES TAX COURT Washington ,. D .C .2,021 7 WENDY LEE WALSH, Petitioner , V . COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent . O R D E R Pursuant to Rule 152(b), Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure, it i s ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court herewith to petitioner . and to respondent pages of the transcript of the trial of Special Trial Judge Lewis R . Carluzzo a t fin on June 8, 2009, containing his ora l rendered at the conclusion of trial . shall transmit a copy of th e the above case before Aberdeen, South Dakota, dings of fact and opinio n In accordance with the oral findings of fact and opinion, an appropriate .order and decision will be eitered for respondent . (Signed ) Lewis R. Carluzzo Special Trial Judg e Dated : Washington, D .C . June 26, 2009 SERVED JUN 2 9 2009 2 1 Bench Opinion by Special Trial Judge Lewis R . Carluzzo 2 June 8, 200 9 3 WENDY LEE WALSH Docket No . 4097-07S 4 The Court has decided to render ora l 5 findings of fact and opinion in this case and th e 6 following represents the Court's oral findings of fact 7 and opinion . This opinion shall not be relied upon a s 8 precedent in any other case . 9 This proceeding fo r the redetermination o f 10 deficiency was conducted as a ,Small Tax Case pursuan t 11 to the provisions of section 7463 of the Internal 12 Revenue Code of 1986, as amended , and Rules 17 0 13 through 175 of the Tax Court Rules of Practice and 14 Procedure . 15 This bench opinion i made pursuant to the 16 authority granted by section 7459(b) of the Internal 17 Revenue Code of 1986 and Rule 152 of the Tax Court 18 Rules of Practice and Procedure . Subsequent section 19 references are to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as 20 amended in effect for 2004 . 21 Blane Holiday appeared on behalf of 22 respondent . 23 In a notice of deficiency dated December 26, i 24 2006, respondent determined a deficiency of $5,149 in 25 petitioner's 2004 Federal income tax and impose d Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 3 1 additions to tax under section 6651 ( a)(1) and sectio n 2 6651 ( a)(2) in the respective mounts of $ 185 .40 and 3 $74 .16 . 4 The issue for decis on is whether petitione r 5 is liable for the above - referenced additions to tax . 6 The burden of production with respect to the issue . 7 rests with respondent . See s ction 7491 ( c) . At the 8 time the petition was filed , petitioner resided i n 9 South Dakota . 10 Taking into account various items of income 11 reported to respondent on information returns , 12 petitioner ' s 2004 income obligated her to file a 13 Federal income tax return for that year but, as of 14 April 15 , 2005, the due date of her 2004 return, she 15 had failed to do so . See sectons 6012 ( a), 6072(a) . 16 If a taxpayer "fails to make any return 17 required by any internal revenl1e law or regulatio n 18 made thereunder at the time prescribed therefor" the n 19 the Commissioner is authorized to "make such retur n 20 from his own knowledge and from such information as he 21 can obtain through testimony or otherwise " . Section 22 6020 (b ) 23 A return so made is c ommonly referred to a s 24 a "section 6020 ( b) return" . In this case, becaus e 25 petitioner failed to file a,2004 return, and because Heritage Reporting :orporation (202) 628-4888 4 1 respondent had information shbwing the receipt of 2 various items of income, on S~ptember 18, 2006 , 3 respondent made a section 6020(b) return for 4 petitioner for 2004 . 5 In case of failure to file a Federal incom e 6 tax return, section 6651(a)( 1 provides that ther e 7 shall be added to the tax required to be shown on the . return five percent of the amount of such tax if th e 9 failure is for not more than one month, with an . 10 additional five percent for each additional month o r 11 fraction thereof during which such failure continues , 12 not exceeding 25 percent in the aggregate . 13 In case of failure to . pay the amount shown 14 as a tax on any return, including a section 6020(b) 15 return, section 6651(a)(2) provides that there shal l 16 be added to the tax .5 percent of the amount of suc h 17 tax if the failure is not for more than one month, 18 with an additional .5 percent for each additional 19 month or fraction thereof during which such failur e 20 continues , not exceeding 25 percent in the aggregate . 21 See section 6651 ( ( 2) ; d % 3=d , "el I Spurlock v . 22 Commissioner T .C . Memo . 2003-1~4 . 23 Both additions-to tax are computed on the 24 net tax due, see section 6651(b), and the sectio n .25 6651(a)(1) addition to tax is reduced or offset by the Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 5 1 section 6651(a)(2) addition accruing for the same 2 month . See section 6651(c) . 3 Neither addition to tax is applicable if it 4 is shown that the failure is due to reasonable cause 5 and not willful neglect, but ~o such showing has been 6 made in this case . See Higbee v . Commissioner , 11 6 7 T .C . 438, 447 (2001) . Petitioner's failure to file a 2004 Federa l 9 income tax return and her failure to pay the tax shown 10 on the section 6020(b) return continued for period s 11 that allowed the maximum aggregate amount of eac h 12 addition to tax to accrue on . t he net tax due . 13 Petitioner is liable for those additions to tax an d 14 respondent's imposition of those additions to tax as 15 shown in the notice of deficie icy is sustained . 16 To reflect the foregoing and the disposition 17 of respondent's oral motion to dismiss for lack o f 18 prosecution made June 8, 2009, an appropriate order 19 and decision will be entered . 20 This concludes the Court's oral findings of 21 fact and opinion in this case . 22 (Whereupon, at 3 :00 p .m .,, the bench opinion 23 in the above-entitled matter was concluded . ) 24 25 Heritage Reporting (202) 628-4 Corporation 888