Hugh D. Summers and Teresa E. Summers - Page 18

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          petitioners have a duty to comply with the tax laws and may not             
          withhold the information reasonably requested by respondent or              
          fail to file tax returns.                                                   
               On the basis of the foregoing, we conclude that it would not           
          have been productive for respondent to schedule a face-to-face              
          hearing.  Accordingly, we hold that it was not an abuse of                  
          discretion for respondent to determine to proceed with the                  
          proposed levy to collect petitioners’ 1989 tax liability, and no            
          genuine issue of material fact exists requiring trial.  We shall            
          therefore grant respondent’s motion for summary judgment and deny           
          petitioners’ motion for summary judgment.  We have considered all           
          of petitioners’ arguments, and, to the extent that we have not              
          addressed them in this opinion, we conclude they are without                
          merit or unnecessary to reach.                                              
               Section 6673(a)(1) authorizes the Tax Court to require a               
          taxpayer to pay to the United States a penalty not in excess of             
          $25,000 whenever it appears that proceedings have been instituted           
          or maintained by the taxpayer primarily for delay or that the               
          taxpayer's position in such proceeding is frivolous or                      
          groundless.  Although we do not impose a penalty on petitioners             
          in this case, we take this opportunity to admonish petitioners              
          that the Court will consider imposing such a penalty should they            









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