Shriver v. Commissioner

85 T.C. No. 1, 85 T.C. 1, 1985 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 62
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedJuly 1, 1985
DocketDocket No. 2235-83
StatusPublished
Cited by48 cases

This text of 85 T.C. No. 1 (Shriver v. Commissioner) 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
Shriver v. Commissioner, 85 T.C. No. 1, 85 T.C. 1, 1985 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 62 (tax 1985).

Opinion

Sterrett, Chief Judge:

By notice of deficiency dated November 8,1982, and by amended answer, respondent determined a deficiency in Federal income taxes for the years ended December 31, 1977, and December 31, 1978, and additions to tax under sections 6653(b) and 6654, I.R.C. 1954, as follows:

Addition to tax under
Year Deficiency Sec. 6653(b) Sec. 6654
1977 $1,394,781.10 $697,390.55 $49,877.37
1978 1,394,911.30 697,455.65 44,637.16

After concessions1 the issues before us are: (1) Whether the notice of deficiency was arbitrarily issued, and (2) whether respondent’s determination of petitioner’s tax liability was incorrect.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Petitioner Thomas H. Shriver resided in Des Plaines, Illinois, at the time of filing his petition in this case. He did not file Federal income tax returns for the taxable years ended December 31, 1977, and December 31, 1978.

During 1977 and 1978, while in graduate school, petitioner earned income from the sale of methamphetamine, a controlled substance.2 The methamphetamine was sold in 10-gram packets for $700, and petitioner sold a total of 8 pounds of the drug to four individuals, one of whom was a Government informant. During all but 4^2 months of 1977 and 1978, Michael Ramano was petitioner’s partner in this profitable business venture.3

In his statutory notice of deficiency, respondent determined that petitioner had unreported income for 1977 and 1978 totaling $4,028,036 from the sale of methamphetamine. Respondent’s calculation of the amount of unreported income was based upon information supplied by a Government informant4 to the Drug Enforcement Administration (hereinafter referred to as dea).

OPINION

Petitioner maintains that respondent’s determination was arbitrary and erroneous in that it was based upon inadmissible hearsay declarations of a Government informant, who was not called to testify at trial. Thus, petitioner argues that respondent had the burden of going forward with the evidence to show the correct amount of his income.

Ordinarily, a presumption of correctness attaches to a statutory notice of deficiency, which places upon petitioner the burden of proof and the burden of going forward with the evidence to show the correct amount of his income. Welch v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 111 (1933). If, however, petitioner demonstrates that the statutory notice is arbitrarily excessive or without foundation, then the burden of going forward with the evidence shifts to respondent. Helvering v. Taylor, 293 U.S. 507 (1935); Llorente v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 260, 264 (1980), affd. in part and revd. and remanded in part 649 F.2d 152 (2d Cir. 1981).

In requesting this Court to find a statutory notice arbitrary, petitioner is asking the Court to go behind the statutory notice. As a general rule, this Court will not look behind a statutory notice to examine the evidence used by respondent in making his determination. Dellacroce v. Commissioner, 83 T.C. 269, 280 (1984); Riland v. Commissioner, 79 T.C. 185, 201 (1982); Llorente v. Commissioner, supra at 264; Jackson v. Commissioner, 73 T.C. 394, 400 (1979); Greenberg’s Express, Inc. v. Commissioner, 62 T.C. 324, 327 (1974); Suarez v. Commissioner, 58 T.C. 792, 813 (1972). In this context, we have observed that "the Commissioner’s determination may often rest upon hearsay or other inadmissible evidence, and we know of no rule of law calling for a review of the materials that were before the Commissioner in order to ascertain whether he relied upon improper evidence.” Rosano v. Commissioner, 46 T.C. 681, 687 (1966).

On rare occasions, however, this Court has recognized an exception to the above-mentioned rule and has looked behind the notice of deficiency. Those cases involved unreported illegal income where respondent introduced no direct or substantive evidence, but rested on the presumption of correctness, and the taxpayer challenged the notice of deficiency. Dellacroce v. Commissioner, supra; Jackson v. Commissioner, supra. We hold that the instant case does not fall within this narrow exception, since there is substantive evidence linking petitioner to a tax-generating activity during the years in issue. Petitioner testified and stipulated to the fact that he earned income from the sale of drugs during 1977 and 1978. He was also convicted of the crime of dealing in drugs during this period. In addition, one of the individuals to whom petitioner sold drugs testified at trial that he purchased 2 pounds of methamphetamine from petitioner in 1977. Respondent clearly did not rest merely on the presumption of correctness in issuing his notice of deficiency. Consequently, we will not look behind the statutory notice in the instant case, and petitioner bears the burden of proving respondent’s determination incorrect.

Having found that the notice of deficiency was not arbitrarily issued, we must decide whether respondént’s determination was incorrect. Neither party disputes the fact that petitioner owes taxes on unreported income earned in 1977 and 1978. They do disagree, however, with respect to the amount of income earned over the periods in question and the resultant tax liability.

Respondent determined that petitioner earned in excess of $4 million from the sale of methamphetamine during 1977 and 1978. His determination was based upon a dea report that was written up by an agent of the dea in his official capacity. The report reflected statements made by a Government informant to the agent, and included a statement, allegedly made by petitioner to the informant, that petitioner only had 1 pound left of the 75 pounds of methamphetamine he had made. Based upon this report, and in particular petitioner’s alleged statement to the informant, respondent determined that petitioner had sold 75 pounds of the controlled substance during the years in issue, generating more than $4 million in income.

At trial, petitioner timely objected to the admission of this particular dea report, as well as related dea reports, on the grounds that they were hearsay5 and not admissible under any of the hearsay exceptions. Respondent claims that these documents are admissible in evidence under rules 803(6) and 803(8), Federal Rules of Evidence. Alternatively, respondent maintains that petitioner’s statement, that only 1 pound r emained of the 75 pounds of methamphetamine he had made, is admissible in evidence as an admission because it is a nonhearsay statement.

We begin by addressing respondent’s contention that the dea reports are admissible in evidence under Fed. R. Evid. 803(6).

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Bluebook (online)
85 T.C. No. 1, 85 T.C. 1, 1985 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 62, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shriver-v-commissioner-tax-1985.