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result of the taxpayers’ failure to respond to requests for
admissions or to comply with other Rules. The Court stated:
We have not found this case to be particularly
satisfying. The record before us is sketchy. The case
appears to revolve around a family trust but we have
been told very little about it. In addition, the
various returns filed by petitioners are confusing
because of the inconsistent treatment of the items
reported therein. All of this is compounded by the
seemingly contradictory positions taken by petitioners
before this Court and by respondent’s failure to be
more precise in his requests for admissions. Be this
as it may, we have tried our best to reach a just
result.
See also Ripley v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1985-555. Izen’s
tactics demean the process and those involved in it and
accomplish nothing. In the language of section 6673(a)(2), it
appears to the Court that Izen “has multiplied the proceedings in
* * * [these cases] unreasonably and vexatiously”. He has
persisted in these tactics despite warnings and sanctions imposed
on his clients in similar cases. He has pursued claims that have
been rejected so frequently that they are “entirely without
colorable pretext or basis and are taken for reasons of
harassment or delay or for other improper purposes.” The Nis
Family Trust v. Commissioner, supra at 548; see Harper v.
Commissioner, 99 T.C. 533, 546-549 (1992). An award under
section 6673 is fully justified.
Although the Court rejected Johnson’s Fifth Amendment
claims, we exclude from the award the fees that are attributable
to those and to the first round of discovery motions. Our
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Last modified: May 25, 2011