Opinion ID: 205504
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mitchell's Employment and Earnings

Text: Since 1986, Mitchell has been a successful real estate agent in Columbus, Georgia, affiliated as a sales associate with Coldwell Banker, Kennon, Parker, Duncan and Key Realtors (Kennon Parker). Between 1986 and early 2006, Mitchell was self-employed and worked for Kennon Parker as an independent contractor. Due to Mitchell's status as an independent contractor, Kennon Parker did not withhold payroll taxes from his commission checks, and Mitchell was responsible for remitting his outstanding federal income and employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Until 1998, Mitchell paid all federal taxes owed; however, on multiple occasions he fell behind in payments, which resulted in levy threats and repayment plans with the IRS. Starting in 1998, Mitchell simply stopped filing tax returns and stopped paying his federal income taxes. Mitchell maintained this pattern of non-compliance for five years, until June 2003, when he filed late returns for 1998 through 2002. At the time Mitchell filed these late tax returns, he did not make any payments toward his past due taxes for 1998 through 2002. At trial, Mitchell testified that he did not pay his taxes from 1998 to 2002 because his living, business, and divorce expenses fully exhausted his income. Mitchell earned an annual adjusted gross income [5] of over $100,000 from 1998 to 2002, with the exception of 2000 when he earned approximately $88,000. When asked at trial why he had not paid anything towards his past due taxes even though in 2001 he earned over $170,000, [6] Mitchell responded: [i]t doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that I'm going to owe somewhere around [$]300,000 plus interest and penalties. So at that point, I haven't filed anything. I don't have [$]300,000. I don't want to open this up yet. (R.3:678). Additionally, from 2003 to 2006, despite consistently earning an annual adjusted gross income over $175,000, Mitchell did not pay any amount towards his past due taxes for 1998 to 2002, with the exception of payments made in July and August of 2006 under his installment agreement with the IRS.