Beard v. Comm'r

82 T.C. No. 60, 82 T.C. 766, 1984 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 66
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedMay 24, 1984
DocketDocket No. 29420-82
StatusPublished
Cited by340 cases

This text of 82 T.C. No. 60 (Beard v. Comm'r) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Beard v. Comm'r, 82 T.C. No. 60, 82 T.C. 766, 1984 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 66 (tax 1984).

Opinions

Whitaker, Judge:

This case is before us on respondent’s motion for summary judgment.1 Pursuant to Rule 121,2 a response to the motion was filed by petitioner on February 13, 1984 (the response). On February 22, 1984, the motion for summary judgment was heard. Respondent was represented by counsel but there was no appearance by or on behalf of petitioner. The motion was taken under advisement.

In the notice of deficiency issued to petitioner, respondent determined a deficiency in petitioner’s 1981 Federal income tax in the amount of $6,535. In the answer, respondent alleged that additions to tax were due under section 6651(a)(1) for failure to file a return, and section 6653(a) for negligence or intentional disregard of the rules and regulations. Additionally, damages pursuant to section 6673 for instituting proceedings before the Tax Court merely for delay were requested.

The petition alleged as errors in the notice of deficiency that petitioner’s wages are not taxable income and were wrongfully included in his gross income. He claims that his receipts are a product of the exchange of labor for wages. Since the fair market value of the labor transferred is equivalent to the amount of wages received, there is no excess gain to be reported as taxable income.3 The "equal exchange” theory was also set forth in a memorandum signed by petitioner and submitted to the Internal Revenue Service as part of the purported "return” for the 1981 year. A copy of the memorandum was attached to his petition.

In his reply, petitioner alleges "the petition contains specific justiciable errors of law and/or fact in relation to the recognition by the Respondent of the Petitioner’s 'labor’ to be 'property.’ ”4 Petitioner asserts that he has arrived at his conclusions by lengthy study and research of the rules and regulations. He contends thát no additions to tax are due under sections 6653(a) and 6651(a)(1). Petitioner denies he was required to file a 1981 income tax return on or before April 15, 1982, in that he owed no tax liability for that year. He admits that the document in question in this case is the only submission he made to the Internal Revenue Service for the 1981 year, claiming that it is a return under section 6012 because it contains figures and numbers from which to compute a tax. Furthermore, he requests a trial by jury on all issues raised by the pleadings and alleges respondent has the burden of proof on all issues. Finally, he denies he has begun this proceeding before this Court merely for the purpose of delay.

We must first decide whether any genuine issue of material fact exists to prevent our summary adjudication of the legal issues in controversy. Rule 121. If summary judgment is warranted, we must decide whether (1) petitioner or respondent has the burden of proof as to the issues raised in the pleadings; (2) the wages earned by petitioner are taxable; (3) petitioner is entitled to a trial by jury; (4) the purported "return” filed by petitioner was a return for the purposes of sections 6011, 6012, 6072, and 6651(a)(1); (5) the failure to include these wages in taxable income was due to negligence or intentional disregard of the rules and regulations for section 6653(a) purposes; and (6) under section 6673, an award of damages for instituting a proceeding before this Court merely for the purpose of delay is merited.

Certain facts are not disputed by the parties. Pursuant to Rule 121, respondent filed an affidavit with exhibits in connection with the instant motion.5 Petitioner did not file any affidavits or exhibits. The undisputed documents supplied by respondent and the undisputed facts in the pleadings constitute the facts used for the purposes of this motion. Rule 121(c).

FINDINGS OF FACT

Petitioner resided in Carleton, Mich., when the petition was filed in this case. During the 1981 taxable year, petitioner was employed by, and received wages from, Guardian Industries totaling $24,401.89. Such amounts were actually received by petitioner during that year.6

He submitted to the Internal Revenue Service the below-described form and an accompanying memorandum dated February 22, 1982, as his 1981 return, thus indicating his protest to the Federal income tax laws. No other document alleged to be a return for the 1981 year was submitted.7 This document (the tampered form) was prepared by, or for, petitioner by making changes to an official Treasury Form 1040 in such fashion (by printing or typing) that the changes may not be readily apparent to a casual reader.8

In that part of the first page of the official form intended to reflect income, petitioner deleted the word "income” from the item captions in lines 8a, 11, 18, and 20, and inserted in those spaces the word "gain.” On line 21 of the form, he obliterated the word "income” from the item caption. In addition, in the margin caption to this section, petitioner deleted the word "Income” and inserted the word "Receipts.”

In that part of the first page of the form intended to reflect deductions from income, he deleted the words "Employee business expense (attach Form 2106)” from line 23 of the form and inserted "Non-taxable receipts.” In addition, in the marginal caption to this section, petitioner deleted the word "Income” and inserted the word "Receipts,” so that the caption reads "Adjustments to Receipts” instead of "Adjustments to Income.”

Petitioner filled in his name, address, Social Security number, occupation, and filing status in addition to the name, occupation, and Social Security number of his spouse. He claimed one exemption on the tampered form. The relevant information entries are as follows: On line 7 entitled "Wages, salaries, tips, etc.,” taxpayer inserted the amount of $24,401.89. On line 23, under the category of "Non-taxable receipts,” petitioner claimed an adjustment to "Receipts” of $24,401.89. He therefore showed a tax liability of zero. On line 55, entitled "Total Federal income tax withheld,” he showed an amount of $1,770.75. The total $1,770.75 that had been withheld from his wages was claimed as a refund. This tampered form was signed by petitioner and dated February 22,1982. Petitioner’s Form W-2 issued by Guardian Industries was attached.

Petitioner’s scheme in submitting this tampered form apparently was to conceal from the Service Center operators the fact that his inclusion of his wages on the tampered form was negated by his fabrication of "Non-taxable receipts” on line 23, thus simultaneously excluding the wages theoretically reported. The net effect of the two steps was to create a zero tax liability. Since his employer had withheld against the amounts paid to him for the 1981 year, this scheme allowed him to claim a refund for that year.

Petitioner has not always protested against his duty to pay taxes. For taxable year 1979 petitioner and his spouse, cash basis, calendar year taxpayers, reported jointly on an official Treasury Form 1040A, wages they received as taxable income, and showed the appropriate tax on such income. Their taxes withheld exceeded their tax liability and they were due a small refund. The Treasury Form 1040A was fully completed and correctly reflected the wages shown on the Forms W-2 they received.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Donato v. Director of Revenue
Superior Court of Delaware, 2023
In re: Rudolf P. Sienega
Ninth Circuit, 2020
Linda Hays McCoy
S.D. Mississippi, 2020
Linda Trenett McCoy
S.D. Mississippi, 2020
Massachusetts Department of Revenue v. John Robert Shek
947 F.3d 770 (Eleventh Circuit, 2020)
Gwendolyn L. Kestin v. Commissioner
153 T.C. No. 2 (U.S. Tax Court, 2019)
Damian K. Gregory & Shayla A. Gregory v. Commissioner
152 T.C. No. 7 (U.S. Tax Court, 2019)
Renee Vento v. Commissioner
152 T.C. No. 1 (U.S. Tax Court, 2019)
Steven Waltner v. Cir
Ninth Circuit, 2019
Green v. Comm'r
2016 T.C. Memo. 67 (U.S. Tax Court, 2016)
Giacchi v. United States (In re Giacchi)
553 B.R. 36 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 2015)
Mallo v. Internal Revenue Service (In Re Mallo)
774 F.3d 1313 (Tenth Circuit, 2014)
Kernan v. Comm'r
2014 T.C. Memo. 228 (U.S. Tax Court, 2014)
Law Office of John H. Eggertsen P.C. v. Commissioner
143 T.C. No. 13 (U.S. Tax Court, 2014)
Montiel v. United States
118 Fed. Cl. 283 (Federal Claims, 2014)
Hill v. Comm'r
2014 T.C. Memo. 134 (U.S. Tax Court, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
82 T.C. No. 60, 82 T.C. 766, 1984 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 66, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beard-v-commr-tax-1984.