Joseph John Martella - Page 8

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          income totaling $41,075 from self-employment for 2001.5  The                
          filing thresholds for a taxpayer filing as a single person, for             
          taxable years 1998 and 2001, were $6,950 and $7,450,                        
          respectively.  Petitioner’s gross income in 1998 and 2001                   
          exceeded these filing thresholds, and petitioner was, therefore,            
          required to file an income tax return.                                      
               C.   Petitioner’s Taxable Income                                       
               Petitioner did not present any witnesses in support of his             
          position, nor did he address his underlying tax liability either            
          at trial or on brief.  Instead, petitioner reiterated his                   
          position that he was not liable for an income tax because he was            
          not satisfied that there was any law that required him to pay an            
          income tax.                                                                 
               Presumably, many facts relevant to a determination of                  
          petitioner’s taxable income would be peculiarly within                      
          petitioner’s personal knowledge and purview.  The fact that                 
          petitioner did not offer any evidence regarding his taxable                 
          income and did not call any witnesses is an indication that any             
          facts which could have been presented by him at trial would have            
          been unfavorable to his position.  See McKay v. Commissioner, 886           
          F.2d 1237, 1238 (9th Cir. 1989), affg. 89 T.C. 1063 (1987);                 
          Wichita Terminal Elevator Co. v. Commissioner, 6 T.C. 1158, 1165            


               5 Although the parties agreed to a lesser deficiency than              
          the $10,872 amount determined in the notice of deficiency for               
          2001, this adjustment did not affect petitioner’s total gross               
          income for 2001.                                                            



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