- 12 - 23. By law, Tax Court has no authority to decide matters of law or Constitutional issues. 24. The deficiency notices are null and void because they were issued in violation of procedures required by law. 25. By law, Tax Court cannot acquire jurisdiction if petition is coerced or compelled under duress. 26. It is fact that a civil case is decided based upon a preponderance of the evidence. Petitioner gave evidence in sworn testimony that the deficiency notices were not true. All of this evidence and all of the other issues raised by petitioner went undenied, unchallenged and unrefuted by respondent and, therefore, must be considered by the Court to be true. Petitioner's contentions are typical tax-protester arguments, which have been rejected repeatedly by the courts. For example, the Tax Court has jurisdiction to decide constitutional questions. E.g., Rager v. Commissioner, 775 F.2d 1081, 1083 (9th Cir. 1985) (finding taxpayer’s argument to the contrary to be frivolous), affg. T.C. Memo. 1984-563. An unapportioned income tax on real estate rents does not violate the taxing clauses of the U.S. Constitution. See Brushaber v. Union Pac. R.R., 240 U.S. 1, 17-18 (1916); see also New York ex rel. Cohn v. Graves, 300 U.S. 308, 314 (1937) (stating that a tax on income from real property is different from a tax on the real property itself, distinguishing Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., 157 U.S. 429, on rehearing 158 U.S. 601 (1895)); United States v. Nelson (In re Becraft), 885 F.2d 547, 550 (9th Cir. 1989) (imposing, sua sponte, sanctions on attorney for raising unapportioned direct tax argument on appeal); Ficalora v.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011