- 11 - purposes if: (1) It contains sufficient data to calculate tax liability; (2) it purports to be a return; (3) it represents an honest and reasonable attempt to satisfy the requirements of the tax law; and (4) it is executed under penalties of perjury. The majority of courts, including this Court, have held that, generally, a return that contains only zeros is not a valid return. See United States v. Mosel, 738 F.2d 157 (6th Cir. 1984); United States v. Grabinski, 727 F.2d 681 (8th Cir. 1984); United States v. Rickman, 638 F.2d 182 (10th Cir. 1980); United States v. Moore, 627 F.2d 830 (7th Cir. 1980); United States v. Smith, 618 F.2d 280 (5th Cir. 1980); Turner v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2004-251; Lee v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1986-294; Cline v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1982-44; Teixera v. United States, 85 AFTR 2d 1657, 2000-1 USTC par. 50,479 (D.S.C. 2000). For example, in United States v. Moore, supra at 835, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit noted that a tax might conceivably be calculated on the basis of the zero entries; however, “it is not enough for a form to contain some income information; there must also be an honest and reasonable intent to supply the information required by the tax code.” See also United States v. Mosel, supra at 158. In United States v. Edelson, 604 F.2d 232, 234 (3d Cir. 1979), the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit stated: “it is now well established that tax forms that do not contain financial information upon which aPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011