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(6th ed. 1990). The AMT does not meet this definition. It is an
income tax and is necessarily dependent on the amount of income
the taxpayer receives. Moreover, by definition it is applicable
only to certain taxpayers. Petitioner's characterization of the
AMT as a poll tax is without substance.
Accordingly, respondent's determination of a $3,893 income
tax deficiency attributable to the AMT for petitioner's 1995
taxable year is sustained.
Negligence Penalty
Petitioner attempts to justify his decision not to report or
pay the AMT for 1995 on the ground that he had consistently acted
in the same manner and had been the subject of only one audit by
the Commissioner, where ultimately he agreed that he owed the
AMT.
Because the IRS has not pursued this issue in every prior
year, petitioner contends that the penalty should not apply
because a full foreign tax credit had been allowed, and because
petitioner was merely continuing an accepted practice. He argues
that the Commissioner's failure to make adjustments in all but
one of petitioner's prior years means that his failure to report
the AMT has been tacitly sanctioned.
Petitioner's argument must fail because each taxable year
stands on its own and must be separately considered. See United
States v. Skelly Oil Co., 394 U.S. 678, 684 (1969). Respondent
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