Court Opinion

ID: 9467938
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:00:05.262049+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:40:35.998526
License: Public Domain

SWYGERT, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I agree with Judge Skelton’s well-reasoned opinion. Because of my position on the panel in United States v. Kroll and my dissent in United States v. Rohrabaugh, the two cases that form the framework of this opinion, I would like to add a few comments.
I agree with Judge Cudahy that we are not in the business of providing work for the tax bar, but it is the position of his dissent (and that of the majority in Rohrabaugh) that creates more employment for tax attorneys. Because of Rohrabaugh, in every case where a taxpayer or his attorney neglects to file an estate tax return on time, there is a possibility of avoiding any adverse consequences. The threat of the penalty statute is thus weakened. Moreover, courts in every such case (as in this one) must decide whether the situation resembles more closely that in Kroll or that in Rohrabaugh. I can think of no better way to create litigation for the tax bar and to assist them in avoiding responsibility for their own negligent actions.
This decision does not produce a windfall for the Government, as the dissent suggests. There is no reason for the Government to bear the burden of the late filing that was created by the taxpayer’s own failure to exercise reasonable care or by his attorney’s neglect to file the application for an extension. If, perhaps, the result is unfair to the taxpayer, then it is up to him to recover the penalty from his negligent counsel. The Government is entitled to its statutory penalty.