- 8 -
Shortly thereafter, the Sixth Circuit in United States v.
Alt, F.3d (6th Cir., May 15, 1996), explicitly recognized
the continuing vitality of Helvering v. Mitchell, supra. The
Sixth Circuit held that the award of tax penalties was not
"punishment," explaining, at , that they are merely
compensatory for lost tax revenue and that they are higher than
the penalties for negligence because "actively fraudulent filings
are more difficult to catch than merely negligent ones."
We hold that the additions to tax as applied to the
petitioner do not result in double jeopardy.
We next turn to petitioner's Eighth Amendment argument. The
Eighth Amendment provides that "Excessive bail shall not be
required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual
punishments inflicted." Petitioner contends that imposition of
the additions to tax on top of his previous fines, prison
sentence, and probation violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition
of excessive fines. The taxpayers in Ianniello also asserted
that their Eighth Amendment rights would be violated if they had
to pay the additions to tax for fraud on top of their criminal
fines and prison sentences. Ianniello v. Commissioner, supra.
The Court held otherwise. "We already have held that
petitioners' liability for Federal income tax deficiencies and
additions to tax for fraud compensates the United States for lost
revenues and costs incurred in investigating petitioners' fraud.
Accordingly, the Eighth Amendment does not apply to petitioners'
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