Sanctions Imposed In Collection Due Process Cases Killer Help!
Sanctions Imposed In Collection Due Process Cases
Battle v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2009-171, 98 T.C.M. (CCH) 45 (2009) – In a prior case, the taxpayer was warned by the court that if he continued to advance frivolous arguments a section 6673 penalty could be imposed. Because the taxpayer advanced the same arguments, the court imposed a $20,000 penalty.Cobin v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2009-88 (2009) – despite a warning that a section 6673 penalty could be imposed if the taxpayer continued to raise “frivolous tax-protester arguments,” the taxpayer persisted and the court imposed a $15,000 penalty.Oropeza v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2008-94, 95 T.C.M. (CCH) 1367 (2008) – the court imposed a $10,000 penalty against the taxpayer after repeated frivolous arguments and repeated warnings from the court. The petitioner’s assertions were ones commonly raised in collection due process cases, such as that the Service did not provide him with certain documents as supposedly mandated by section 6330.Schneller v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2008-196, 96 T.C.M. (CCH) 101 (2008) – the court imposed another $10,000 penalty against a taxpayer who persisted in advancing frivolous arguments, ignoring the court’s warnings during other proceedings.Hassell v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2006-196, 92 T.C.M. (CCH) 273 (2006) – the court imposed sanctions against the taxpayer in the amount of $10,000 for continuing to assert frivolous arguments.Forbes v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2006-10, 91 T.C.M. (CCH) 672 (2006) – the court imposed a $20,000 sanction against the taxpayer holding the he failed to assert any coherent claims and only raised frivolous arguments.Burke v. Commissioner, 124 T.C. 189 (2005) – the court imposed a $2,500 penalty against Burke for wasting judicial resources with his frivolous arguments even though Burke abandoned several frivolous arguments at trial.Carrillo v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2005-290, 90 T.C.M. (CCH) 608 (2005) – the court imposed a $5,000 sanction against the taxpayers for making frivolous arguments despite being alerted to the potential use of sanctions against them.Wetzel v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2005-211, 90 T.C.M. (CCH) 266 (2005) – the court imposed a $15,000 penalty against Wetzel, a professional tax return preparer, for making frivolous arguments because he knew or should have known the arguments were frivolous.Hamzik v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2004-223, 88 T.C.M. (CCH) 316 (2004) – the court imposed sanctions of $15,000 against the taxpayer for his insistence in making frivolous arguments subsequent to the court warning him of the likelihood of penalties being imposed.Aston v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2003-128, 85 T.C.M. (CCH) 1260 – the court imposed a $25,000 penalty against the taxpayer for continuing to maintain frivolous arguments, despite having been warned in a previous proceeding before the court that those arguments were without merit.Fink v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2003-61, 85 T.C.M. (CCH) 976, 980 – the court imposed a $2,000 penalty against the taxpayer for raising “primarily for delay, frivolous arguments and/or groundless contentions, arguments, and requests, thereby causing the Court to waste its limited resources.”Eiselstein v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2003-22, 85 T.C.M. (CCH) 794, 796 (2002) – the court imposed a penalty of $5,000 against the taxpayer for raising “frivolous tax-protester arguments” and referred to the “unequivocal warning” issued by the court in Pierson v. Commissioner concerning the imposition of sanctions against taxpayers abusing the protections provided for in sections 6320 and 6330.Haines v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2003-16, 85 T.C.M. (CCH) 771, 773 (2003), aff’d, 72 Fed. Appx. 730 (9th Cir. 2003) – the court imposed a penalty of $2,000 against the taxpayers for making “protester arguments which have, on numerous occasions, been rejected by the courts.”Gunselman v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2003-11, 85 T.C.M. (CCH) 756, 759 (2003) – the court imposed a penalty of $1,000 against the taxpayer who argued “that there is no Internal Revenue Code section that makes him liable for taxes.” The court characterized the taxpayer’s argument as a “frivolous, tax-protester argument.”Young v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2003-6, 85 T.C.M. (CCH) 739, 742 (2003) – the court imposed a penalty of $500 against the taxpayer for “raising the same arguments that [the court has] previously and consistently rejected as frivolous and groundless.”Roberts v. Commissioner, 118 T.C. 365, 372-73 (2002), aff’d, 329 F.3d 1224 (11th Cir. 2003) – the court imposed a $10,000 penalty against Roberts for making frivolous arguments stating “[i]n Pierson v. Commissioner . . . we issued an unequivocal warning to taxpayers concerning the imposition of a penalty under section 6673(a) on those taxpayers who abuse the protections afforded by sections 6320 and 6330 by instituting or maintaining actions under those sections primarily for delay or by taking frivolous or groundless positions in such actions.”Rennie v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2002-296, 84 T.C.M. (CCH) 611, 614 (2002) – the court imposed a $1,500 penalty against the taxpayer for making frivolous arguments and choosing “to ignore and/or not follow case precedent and interpretation of the statutory law.”Tornichio v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2002-291, 84 T.C.M. (CCH) 578, 582 (2002) – the court imposed a $12,500 penalty against the taxpayer for making frivolous arguments, stating “[f]ederal courts have unequivocally rejected his protester arguments and sanctioned him for raising them.”Davich v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2002-255, 84 T.C.M. (CCH) 429, 435 (2002) – the court imposed a $5,000 penalty against the taxpayer case, stating “it is clear that [the taxpayer] regards this proceeding as nothing but a vehicle to protest the tax laws of this country and to espouse his own misguided views, which we regard as frivolous and groundless.”Davidson v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2002-194, 84 T.C.M. (CCH) 156, 160-61 (2002) – the court imposed a $4,000 penalty for raising groundless arguments noting that “[d]uring the administrative hearing, petitioner was provided with a copy of the Court’s opinion in Pierson v. Commissioner [115 T.C. 576, 581 (2000)]. . . and was warned that his arguments were frivolous.”Davis v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2001-87, 81 T.C.M. (CCH) 1503 (2001) – after warning that the taxpayer could be penalized for presenting frivolous and groundless arguments, the court imposed a $4,000 penalty.Pierson v. Commissioner, 115 T.C. 576, 581 (2000) – the court considered imposing sanctions against the taxpayer, but decided against doing so, stating, “we regard this case as fair warning to those taxpayers who, in the future, institute or maintain a lien or levy action primarily for delay or whose position in such a proceeding is frivolous or groundless.”