- 18 -
fraud under section 6653 “is intentional wrongdoing on
the part of the taxpayer to avoid a tax known to be
owing.” Akland v. Commissioner, 767 F.2d 618, 621 (9th
Cir. 1985). By filing fraudulent W-4 forms and failing
to file tax returns, appellant succeeded in avoiding
paying taxes for a number of years. The fact that he
told the Internal Revenue Service that he was evading
taxes does not make it any less fraudulent. * * *
Granado v. Commissioner, supra at 93. We follow Granado v.
Commissioner, supra. Golsen v. Commissioner, 445 F.2d 985 (10th
Cir. 1971), affg. 54 T.C. 742 (1970). We conclude that the fact
that petitioner sent letters to respondent raising frivolous
constitutional and other legal questions about filing tax returns
does not preclude a finding of fraud. Cloutier v. Commissioner,
T.C. Memo. 1994-558.
Petitioner contends that respondent entrapped him by not
responding to his letters. We disagree. We do not believe that
petitioner wrote those letters in good faith. Respondent put
petitioner on notice that he was wrong before the years in issue
when respondent assessed penalties against petitioner for filing
false Forms W-4 in 1982.
5. Other Cases on Which Petitioner Relies
Petitioner contends that he is like the taxpayer in
Marinzulich v. Commissioner, 31 T.C. 487 (1958), whose lack of
education negated fraudulent intent. We disagree. The taxpayer
in Marinzulich had a third grade education, lacked familiarity
with income tax laws, used a tax return preparer, filed returns
for the years in issue, and did not falsify any records.
Page: Previous 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011