IRS Must Prepare Tax Returns For A Person Who Fails To File
IRS Must Prepare Tax Returns – The Law And Relevant Case Law
Proponents of this argument contend that section 6020(b) obligates the IRS to prepare and sign under penalties of perjury a federal tax return for a person who does not file a return. Thus, those who subscribe to this contention claim that they are not required to file a return for themselves.The Law: Section 6020(b) merely provides the IRS with a mechanism for determining the tax liability of a taxpayer who has failed to file a return. Section 6020(b) does not require the IRS to prepare or sign under penalties of perjury tax returns for persons who do not file and it does not excuse the taxpayer from civil penalties or criminal liability for failure to file.
Relevant Case Law:
United States v. Cheek, 3 F.3d 1057, 1063 (7th Cir. 1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1112 (1994) – the court held the district court did not err when it instructed the jury that defendant’s belief that Section 6020 permitted the Secretary of the Treasury to prepare a tax return for a person did not negate “in any way” the obligation to file a tax return.In re Bergstrom, 949 F.2d 341, 343 (10th Cir. 1991) – recognized that “[c]ourts have held that 26 U.S.C. § 6020(b) provides the IRS with some recourse if a taxpayer fails to file a return as required under 26 U.S.C. § 6012, but that it does not excuse a taxpayer from the filing requirement.” United States v. Barnett, 945 F.2d 1296, 1300 (5th Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 503 U.S. 941 (1992) – where defense counsel in prosecution for willful failure to file individual federal income tax returns raised inference that the IRS actually had some statutory duty to file returns for delinquent taxpayers, court properly instructed jury that IRS has no such duty.Schiff v. United States, 919 F.2d 830, 832 (2d Cir. 1990) cert. denied, 501 U.S. 1238 (1991) – the court rejected the taxpayer’s argument that the IRS must prepare a substitute return pursuant to section 6020(b) prior to assessing deficient taxes, stating “[t]here is no requirement that the IRS complete a substitute return.”Moore v. Commissioner, 722 F.2d 193, 196 (5th Cir. 1984) – the court stated that “section [6020(b)] provides the Secretary with some recourse should a taxpayer fail to fulfill his statutory obligation to file a return, and does not supplant the taxpayer’s original obligation to file established by 26 U.S.C. § 6012.”United States v. Lacy, 658 F.2d 396, 397 (5th Cir. 1981) – the court, in upholding the taxpayer’s conviction for willfully and knowingly failing to file a return, stated that” . . . the purpose of section 6020(b)(1) is to provide the Internal Revenue Service with a mechanism for assessing the civil liability of a taxpayer who has failed to file a return, not to excuse that taxpayer from criminal liability which results from that failure.”Stewart v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2005-212, 90 T.C.M. (CCH) 269 (2005) – the court found that the IRS need not prepare a substitute return in order to determine a deficiency where the taxpayer has not filed a return for the year at issue.