- 8 -
obtain. Petitioner has not explained the basis for this belief,
nor does the record support his contention. Petitioner may be
arguing that respondent is required to compel the parties to the
litigation to provide petitioner with relevant information.
Assuming this is the case, petitioner is mistaken. The
Commissioner is not obligated to obtain records from third
parties on the taxpayer’s behalf. See Poindexter v.
Commissioner, supra at 282-286 (Commissioner’s refusal to
subpoena records on taxpayer’s behalf did not relieve taxpayer of
his burden of proof); Horn v. Commissioner, supra; see also sec.
6001 (taxpayer is required to maintain adequate records). We
conclude that petitioner has failed to prove his underlying tax
liabilities should be reduced.
2. Petitioner’s Proposed Collection Alternatives
Petitioner asserts that he is unable to pay his tax
liabilities. Petitioner did not provide financial information to
substantiate this assertion, however, nor did he offer a credible
explanation for his failure to do so. Petitioner contends that
he submitted an offer-in-compromise (OIC) several years ago to an
Internal Revenue Service office in Utah. The OIC was not made
part of the record, and petitioner does not argue that he
submitted an OIC to the Appeals officer in connection with the
proposed levy action. Thus, it appears that petitioner did not
raise an OIC or other collection alternative with the Office of
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011