Juan Rodriguez - Page 26




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             sum payment "would not be considered taxable income".                    
             There is no factual basis for such argument in the record                
             of this case.  Neither petitioner nor the FBI agent who was              
             called as a witness testified that an FBI agent gave                     
             petitioner any such advice.  Indeed, petitioner did not                  
             even ask the FBI agent about any such statements.                        
             Petitioner does not identify the agent or employee of the                
             FBI who allegedly gave him such advice, nor did he subpoena              
             such person to testify.  We do not accept petitioner's                   
             attempt to explain his failure to call the agent to testify              
             on the ground that the undercover operation was ongoing at               
             the time of trial or that it would have been compromised by              
             the agent's testimony.  There is nothing in the record to                
             suggest that the operation was ongoing at the time of                    
             trial, but, even if it were, there is no reason to believe               
             that the agent's testimony concerning statements about the               
             taxability of petitioner's lump-sum payment would have                   
             compromised the operation.  Indeed, petitioner exhibited                 
             no such reluctance in 1994 when he filed suit against the                
             FBI and six of its special agents seeking a greater share                
             of the money and property that had been seized during the                
             undercover operation.  We find that petitioner failed to                 
             show that his failure to file a return for 1993 was due to               
             reasonable cause and not willful neglect, and we sustain                 






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