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other matters. Petitioner's conduct to date as summarized in
this opinion demonstrates that petitioner's arguments challenging
respondent's collection action with respect to petitioner's
1996-98 liabilities were frivolous and/or groundless. We shall
require petitioner to pay to the United States a penalty under
section 6673(a)(1) in the amount of $6,000.
Our conclusion that it is appropriate to impose a section
6673 penalty on petitioner is the direct result of petitioner's
arguments. We believe that our conclusion is warranted even
though we have also held that the Appeals Office abused its
discretion regarding petitioner's 2000 liability. Our holding
regarding the 2000 liability is not the result of any argument
that petitioner made. Rather, it stems from the rather obvious
failure of respondent, as shown by the record, to present
verification to the hearing officer that he issued a notice of
deficiency for 2000 to petitioner before he assessed the 2000
deficiency. Our authority to impose a section 6673 penalty in
this case arises from section 6673(a)(1) and is invoked by
petitioner's frivolous and groundless arguments regarding his
1996-98 liabilities. There is nothing in section 6673(a)(1) to
suggest that our authority to impose a section 6673 penalty is
constrained in any way by the fact that petitioner was lucky
enough to obtain a favorable ruling regarding respondent's
proposed collection action with respect to the 2000 liability.
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