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petitioners to attend calendar call so we could arrange a
mutually convenient time that week to try petitioners’ case.
Petitioners ignored the Court’s Order. Petitioners did not
attend calendar call. Instead, only respondent’s counsel
appeared when this case was called. Respondent’s counsel
explained to the Court that his office had received a letter by
facsimile from Mrs. Hardin stating that petitioner had an inner
ear infection and would be unable to attend calendar call. There
was no explanation why Mrs. Hardin was unavailable.
Respondent moved to dismiss for failure to prosecute and for
the imposition of a penalty under section 6673. The Court
subsequently held an evidentiary hearing at respondent’s request
regarding the accuracy-related penalty under section 6662(a) for
petitioners’ failure to keep accurate books and records. The
revenue agent and Appeals officer who testified as to the
accuracy-related penalty under section 6662(a) also testified
regarding respondent’s written motion to impose a penalty under
section 6673.
Discussion
We now discuss whether to impose sanctions against
petitioners. Given the serious consequences of a dismissal, we
begin by discussing the sanction of dismissing this case for
petitioners’ failure properly to prosecute.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011