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Taxpayers must file tax returns each and every year for
which gross income exceeds a certain threshold amount. Sec.
6012(a)(1). Each tax year represents a new liability and a
separate cause of action. Commissioner v. Sunnen, 333 U.S. 591,
598-599 (1948). Petitioner is not entitled to use Agent Riley’s
investigation of previous tax years’ returns as an excuse for
failing to file current year returns. Moreover, the Court does
not agree that petitioner’s alleged confusion as to whether to
file a Form 1040 or Form 2555 is a valid excuse to delay filing
either form.
Petitioner believed NTS and FMG had promoted “a lot of very
big misconceptions to taxpayers”. As a result, he claimed that
he started educating people about NTS’s and FMG’s fallacies and
misconceptions in 1992. Despite petitioner’s asserted beliefs
regarding NTS’s and FMG’s promoted misconceptions, petitioner was
hired independently by NTS and FMG to conduct seminars sponsored
by them. He also assisted in the formation of the NTS and FMG
promoted trusts. Petitioner’s tax returns for 1997 through 2000
revealed that he continued to promote for profit abusive trust
schemes marketed by NTS and FMG through at least 2000. The Court
finds petitioner’s testimony to be self-serving and contradicted
by his actions. The Court deems petitioner’s reasons for failing
to file timely his tax returns to be manufactured and not
a defense to fraud.
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