-11- We are not persuaded that petitioner acted in good faith or in fact relied on Long when he prepared his 1040 document. We find that petitioner’s asserted reliance on Long does not constitute reasonable cause and the absence of willful neglect. In sum, petitioner has not shown that his failure to file a Federal income tax return for 2001 was due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect. Thus, we find that petitioner is liable for the addition to tax under section 6651(a)(1). Petitioner has argued that he should not be subject to the addition to tax under section 6651(a)(1) because the addition to tax penalizes him for asking for an explanation why he was liable to file a return and pay tax. Petitioner’s arguments were frivolous. Although petitioner filed returns and paid tax for 20 years previously and respondent notified petitioner in 2000 that his arguments were frivolous, petitioner nevertheless attempted to challenge the tax system by filing documents reporting zero income and zero tax liability and attaching frivolous tax protester correspondence. Petitioner was well aware of the requirement to file tax returns and pay tax, but petitioner continued to assert shopworn, meritless tax protester arguments. We have imposed a penalty under section 6673 on taxpayers who have raised similar arguments. See, e.g., Roberts v. Commissioner, 118 T.C. 365 (2002), affd. per curiam 329 F.3d 1224 (11th Cir. 2003); Pierson v. Commissioner, 115 T.C. 576 (2000); Hodges v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2005-168. Though we do not impose a penalty here, nor does respondent seek a section 6673Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
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