Charles Levine Preston - Page 7

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          didn’t get turned in.”  Although petitioner may have had numerous           
          concerns or problems, simply neglecting or forgetting to file his           
          Federal tax return does not amount to “reasonable cause”.  See              
          sec. 6651(a)(1); United States v. Boyle, supra at 246.                      
          Respondent is, therefore, sustained on this issue.                          
               Respondent also determined a section 6654 addition to tax              
          against petitioner.  A taxpayer is subject to this addition to              
          tax “in the case of any underpayment of estimated tax by an                 
          individual”.  Sec. 6654.  Subject to certain statutory                      
          exceptions, the addition to tax is automatically applied if the             
          amounts of withholding and estimated tax payments do not equal              
          statutorily designated amounts.  Niedringhaus v. Commissioner, 99           
          T.C. 202, 222 (1992).                                                       
               The statute, however, provides an exception to this                    
          automatic imposition where the preceding taxable year was 12                
          months, the taxpayer did not have any liability for tax for such            
          year, and the taxpayer was a citizen or resident of the United              
          States throughout the preceding taxable year.  Sec. 6654(e)(2).             
          Petitioner is a U.S. citizen and had no income tax liability for            
          the 1997 taxable year.  Petitioner’s liability for the 1998                 
          taxable year was not due to insufficient withholdings by his                
          employers, as respondent alleges, but due solely to the tax due             
          on a one-time early withdrawal from his retirement fund.                    
          Petitioner falls within the stated exception in section                     






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