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addition to tax, petitioner must show that her failure to file
was due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect.
Petitioner testified that she did not file a return because
her gross income was less than the exemption amount. See sec.
6012(a)(1)(A). However, as found above, petitioner was required
to include $15,086 in gross income, which exceeds the exemption
amount for a married person filing separately as adjusted for
inflation, and she was thus required to file a return. See id.;
Rev. Proc. 95-53, 1995-2 C.B. 445. Petitioner’s mistake as to or
ignorance of the law does not amount to reasonable cause that
would relieve her from the addition to tax. See Joyce v.
Commissioner, 25 T.C. 13, 15 (1955); Joye v. Commissioner, T.C.
Memo 2002-14; Guthrie v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1989-168.
Petitioner has not shown that her failure to file was due to
reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect. Therefore, we
hold that petitioner is liable for an addition to tax under
section 6651(a)(1) of $344.7
Petitioner argues that respondent was barred from beginning
an audit because the 3-year period of limitations had expired.
Petitioner cites no authority for her proposition. We assume
petitioner is arguing that respondent is barred from assessing
7 Because respondent conceded that petitioner is not liable
for an addition to tax under sec. 6651(a)(2), the sec. 6651(a)(1)
addition to tax is 25 percent of the amount required to be shown
on the return ($1,377 x .25 = $344.25). See also supra note 1.
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