- 15 -
circumstances are simply irrelevant.9 See Estate of Ruben v.
Commissioner, 33 T.C. 1071, 1072 (1960); see also Grosshandler v.
Commissioner, supra at 21.
Petitioner did not pay any estimated tax, nor was any tax
withheld from any of his income. Under these circumstances, and
in the absence of any applicable statutory exception, see sec.
6654(e), we hold that petitioner is liable for the addition to
tax under section 6654(a). Respondent’s determination in this
regard, modified as to amount, see supra note 1, is sustained.
E. Section 6673 Penalty
We turn now, on our own motion, to the award of a penalty
against petitioner under section 6673(a).
As relevant herein, section 6673(a)(1) authorizes the Tax
Court to require a taxpayer to pay to the United States a penalty
not in excess of $25,000 whenever it appears that proceedings
have been instituted or maintained by the taxpayer primarily for
delay or that the taxpayer’s position in such proceeding is
frivolous or groundless.
The record in this case convinces us that petitioner was not
interested in disputing the merits of either the deficiency in
income tax or the additions to tax determined by respondent in
9 We should not be understood to imply that petitioner had
reasonable cause or that there were any extenuating circumstances
relating to petitioner’s failure to pay estimated tax. Indeed,
the record demonstrates that petitioner did not have reasonable
cause and that there were no extenuating circumstances.
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