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Discussion
Section 6673(a)(1) authorizes the Court to require the
taxpayer to pay a penalty not in excess of $25,000 when it
appears to the Court that, inter alia, 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. In Pierson v. Commissioner, 115 T.C. 576, 581
(2000), we warned that taxpayers abusing the protections afforded
by sections 6320 and 6330 through the bringing of dilatory or
frivolous lien or levy actions will face sanctions under section
6673. We have since repeatedly disposed of cases premised on
arguments akin to those raised herein summarily and with
imposition of the section 6673 penalty. See, e.g., Craig v.
Commissioner, 119 T.C. 252, 264-265 (2002) (and cases cited
thereat).
With respect to the instant matter, we have become convinced
that petitioner instituted this proceeding primarily for delay.
Throughout the administrative and judicial process, petitioner
has repeatedly failed to raise any substantive issues of merit,
to supply requested information, to comply with orders of this
Court, to submit responses when afforded an opportunity to do so,
and to appear at scheduled proceedings. The resultant waste of
time and effort on the part of respondent and the Court is
undeniably one of the evils to which section 6673 is directed.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011