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accountant testified that he advised Adams that one of the
options to assure that his returns were properly prepared and
timely filed was to pay a bookkeeper to put the information in a
form that would allow the accountant to prepare the return.
Adams testified that he did not want to incur the additional
expense to hire and employ a bookkeeper. The accountant and
Adams made a deliberate choice to file the returns late and then
to seek to abate the penalties that they knew would result from
late filing.
Petitioners argue that illness of a taxpayer may constitute
reasonable cause for late-filed returns and late payment of tax.
We are unpersuaded that illness is the cause of petitioners’
continuing delinquency. Petitioners cite no case where the
taxpayers’ delinquency continued over a period of years while the
taxpayers failed to take steps necessary, and readily taken, to
cause their tax returns to be filed on time. Petitioners are
educated, intelligent, and able to sustain a business that
produced substantial income. Their failure to comply with their
annual duty to file tax returns is unexcused. There is no basis
for concluding that they are not liable for the statutory
additions to tax that follow those delinquencies.
Decision will be entered
for respondent.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011