Laurel Ann Curtis - Page 4




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          4-plex.  I kept working two jobs and bought more property.”  In             
          1996, petitioner owned at least two rental properties.                      
          Petitioner’s Decision Not To File Income Tax Returns                        
               In the early 1980s, petitioner became convinced that the               
          Federal income tax is voluntary.  Before 1984, petitioner filed             
          income tax returns, reporting wage and rental income, although,             
          because of deductions, she had little taxable income and paid               
          little tax.  In 1984, petitioner made the decision not to file a            
          return.  In the posttrial memorandum, petitioner claims:  “I                
          sincerely believed then as I do now there is no dispute the                 
          Pollock decision says real estate rents could not be subject to a           
          mandatory income tax.”1                                                     
               Petitioner did not file Federal income tax returns for her             
          taxable (calendar) years 1983 through 1993, the years here in               
          issue.                                                                      
          Respondent’s Examination                                                    
               In 1992, one of respondent’s agents learned that, in 1990,             
          petitioner had expended $8,000 for an automobile.  The agent                
          asked to meet with petitioner so she could explain the lack of              
          returns.  Petitioner was requested to file delinquent returns.              


               1  Apparently, petitioner is referring to Pollock v.                   
          Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co., 158 U.S. 601 (1895), striking down the           
          income tax enacted in 1894 as a direct tax not apportioned among            
          the States in conformity with the Constitution.  The modern                 
          income tax is not vulnerable to that attack.  See U.S. Const.               
          amend. XVI; see also Brushaber v. Union Pac. R.R., 240 U.S. 1,              
          17-18 (1916).                                                               





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