Opinion
10584-20
09-24-2021
James Harris, Petitioner v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Respondent
ORDER OF DISMISSAL
Lewis R. Carluzzo, Chief Special Trial Judge
This case is before the Court on respondent's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and to impose a penalty under section 6673, filed October 29, 2020, and supplemented March 15, 2021 (motion). Respondent's motion was heard on June 10, 2021, during the Houston, Texas, remote trial session of the Court that began on June 7, 2021. Counsel for respondent appeared and argued in support of the motion. Petitioner appeared, unrepresented, and opposed the motion.
Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended and in effect for the relevant period and Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.
According to petitioner, he commenced this proceeding to establish that the Internal Revenue Service has no jurisdiction over him, at least with respect to the many years shown in the petition. His reasoning in that regard is flawed to the point of being frivolous. Worse, allegations made in the petition regarding the failure to receive certain notices are patently false. Furthermore, even if all of the allegations contained in the petition were true, absent circumstances not alleged, the Court is without authority to take any action or otherwise grant him any relief for any of the years referenced in the petition.
This is not the first case that petitioner has commenced in this Court. In previous cases he has been warned that positions similar to the position taken in this case are groundless, and his arguments frivolous. As a result, in docket no. 3596-18L the Court imposed a $15,000 section 6673(a)(1) penalty for the frivolous position he took in that case. Undeterred, petitioner continues to advance a frivolous position in this case.
Section 6673(a)(1) authorizes the Tax Court to require a taxpayer to pay to the United States a penalty of up to $25,000 whenever it appears that proceedings have been instituted or maintained by the taxpayer primarily for delay or that the taxpayer's position in the proceedings is frivolous or groundless.
Otherwise, a fair reading of the petition shows that nothing in it gives rise to a justiciable issue. That being so, it is
ORDERED that respondent's motion is granted. It is further
ORDERED that this case is dismissed upon the ground that petitioner has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. It is further
ORDERED that petitioner shall pay to the United States a penalty under section 6673(a)(1) in the amount of $9,555, determined by multiplying the aggregate number of hours respondent's counsel spent working on this case (45.50 hours) by the hourly fee award limitation for 2020 and 2021 ($210) under section 7430(c)(1)(B)(iii). It is further
ORDERED that petitioner's motions filed March 1, 2021, and March 16, 2021, are denied.