- 18 -
caution and restraint. Kronish v. Commissioner, 90 T.C. 684, 695
(1988).
Equitable estoppel does not apply in this case. Respondent
made no misrepresentations or misleading silences to warrant
estoppel. Even if the instructions to Form 1040 were misleading,
and the Court declines to make such a finding, authoritative
sources of Federal income tax law are statutes, regulations, and
judicial decisions, not informal publications or instructions of
the Internal Revenue Service. Casa de la Jolla Park, Inc. v.
Commissioner, 94 T.C. 384, 396 (1990); Wenger v. Commissioner,
T.C. Memo. 2000-156. Moreover, any error in the instructions was
one of opinion or law, not fact. Here, petitioners knew all the
facts and were not ignorant of them. They knew their plans were
not qualified plans. If errors in reporting their 1999 taxes
were made, it was petitioners who made them, not respondent. The
elements of equitable estoppel are absent. The doctrine does not
apply here. Graff v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 743, 761 (1980),
affd. 673 F.2d 784 (5th Cir. 1982).
The second issue is whether petitioners are liable for the
10-percent penalty on the Southern Farm Bureau and Glenbrook
distributions under section 72(q). Section 72(q)(1) provides:
Imposition of Penalty. If any taxpayer receives any amount
under an annuity contract, the taxpayer’s tax under this
chapter for the taxable year in which such amount is
received shall be increased by an amount equal to 10 percent
Page: Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011