- 9 - In United States v. Boyle, supra, the Supreme Court suggested that a taxpayer's reliance on professional advice that there is no obligation to file would generally establish reasonable cause for purposes of section 6651. Id. at 250-251. On the other hand, the Court affirmed that the orderly operation of our system of self-assessment depends on strict compliance with known filing obligations. Id. at 249. Leuschner did not advise petitioner that he need not file a return. Petitioner is a sophisticated businessman. He exercises responsibility for the tax compliance of partnerships and S corporations whose business he manages. He was aware of his obligation to file returns and of the applicable deadlines. The advice he received from Leuschner was that failure to comply with filing deadlines would have no adverse consequences because he would have no tax to pay. Leuschner also may have explained to petitioner that his recommendation was based in part on the concern that filing an amended return would prompt an audit of the return. The argument that reliance on such advice constitutes reasonable cause for delinquency has been rejected repeatedly by this Court and others. Jackson v. Commissioner, 864 F.2d 1521, 1527-1528 (10th Cir. 1989), affg. 86 T.C. 492, 538-539 (1986); Becker v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1990-120; Estate of Smith v. United States, 589 F. Supp. 836, 840 (E.D. La. 1984); cf. Lilley v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1989-602, affd. without publishedPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011