Court Opinion

ID: 9474138
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 04:48:58.519826+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:43:55.349676
License: Public Domain

STEPHENS, District Judge,
specially concurring.
I concur with my collegues in this case as to the result except the provision that the taxpayer’s attorney should be jointly and severally liable with the taxpayer. Counsel made no effort to mislead the court as to applicable law, but rather contended that the facts were sufficiently difficult to merit a different result. We decided that there was no substantial difference. It is not wholly inappropriate to leave this decision to judicial determination. The appellate court has ample means, which are often employed, to avoid imposition on the court’s time without imposing a penalty. The simplest is to decide the case without oral argument.
I would rest my decision as to the jurisdiction of the tax court to decide constitutional cases on the authority cited. No collateral support is necessary. Furthermore, a taxpayer’s opportunity to choose to go either to the tax court or to the District Court is not always a free choice. It frequently depends upon whether the taxpayer can afford to pay the tax and then litigate. Unless he can, he must choose the tax court. I agree with the opinion not because he has a choice of courts but because the tax court has the requisite jurisdiction.