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Finally, section 6673(a) authorizes this Court to penalize a
taxpayer who (1) institutes or maintains a proceeding primarily
for delay, (2) pursues a position in this Court which is
frivolous or groundless, or (3) unreasonably fails to pursue
available administrative remedies. Petitioners’ conduct in this
case has convinced us that all of the above factors are present
in this proceeding. Petitioners’ repeated failure to comply with
respondent’s discovery requests, even in the face of orders from
the Court directing them to do so, has resulted in a waste of
limited judicial and administrative resources that could have
been devoted to resolving bona fide claims of other taxpayers.
See Cook v. Spillman, 806 F.2d 948 (9th Cir. 1986). Further,
petitioners have failed to seek settlement at the administrative
level. Lastly, petitioners’ insistence on making protester type
arguments even after we have summarily dismissed them indicates
an unwillingness on the part of petitioners to respect the tax
laws of the United States. Accordingly, we shall grant
respondent’s motion and require petitioners to pay a penalty to
the United States pursuant to section 6673 in the amount of
$15,000.
To reflect the foregoing,
An appropriate order and
decision will be entered.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011