- 11 - 6651(a)(1) addition to tax for late filing should be abated for petitioner’s 1999 tax year. We review de novo whether petitioners are liable for the remaining additions to tax under section 6651. See Downing v. Commissioner, supra at 29. Section 6651(a)(1) Addition to Tax for Late Filing for 2000 Section 6651(a)(1) imposes an addition to tax for failure to file a return by the prescribed date (taking into account any extension of time for filing), unless it is shown that the failure is due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect. A showing of reasonable cause requires petitioners to demonstrate they exercised “ordinary business care and prudence” but were nevertheless unable to file the return within the prescribed time. Sec. 301.6651-1(c)(1), Proced. & Admin. Regs. For illness to constitute reasonable cause for failure to file, petitioners must show that the surgery so incapacitated Richard that they could not file their 2000 return on time. Petitioners contend that Richard’s cardiac surgery in January 1999 and consequent employment hiatus constitute reasonable cause for petitioners’ failure to timely file their 2000 return. Petitioners do not assert, and the record does not indicate, that Richard’s illness would have prevented Catherine from tending to petitioners’ filing obligations. Moreover, petitioners’ 2000 tax return was due (after extensions) on October 15, 2001--about 2 years and 9 months after Richard’sPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011