-18- This Court, the District Court for the Central District of Illinois, and the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit all have described petitioner’s contentions as frivolous. Both this Court and the District Court have imposed penalties against petitioner under section 6673. The Court of Appeals has upheld these impositions and, in one instance, imposed an additional frivolous appeal penalty. Supra table 1. Our findings include a brief sampling of petitioner’s contentions at various stages of the instant case. In our opinion on the motion in the instant case we warned petitioner “that in view of his past actions, his persistent assertion in this case of frivolous and groundless arguments is likely to result in section 6673 sanctions larger than those previously imposed upon him.” Harrell v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1996-64. Immediately before petitioner’s opening statement, we warned him again. During the trial, the following colloquy occurred: 7(...continued) (A) proceedings before it have been instituted or maintained by the taxpayer primarily for delay, (B) the taxpayer’s position in such proceeding is frivolous or groundless, or (C) the taxpayer unreasonably failed to pursue available administrative remedies, the Tax Court, in its decision, may require the taxpayer to pay to the United States a penalty not in excess of $25,000.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011