Richard N. Pate - Page 10




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               On the basis of our review of the record, we conclude that             
          there is no genuine dispute as to a material fact.  Petitioner              
          has failed to make a valid challenge to the appropriateness of              
          respondent’s intended collection action or offer alternative                
          means of collection.  In the absence of a valid issue for review,           
          we conclude that respondent is entitled to judgment as a matter             
          of law and sustain respondent’s collection actions.                         
               Section 6673(a)(1) authorizes the Tax Court to require a               
          taxpayer to pay to the United States a penalty no greater than              
          $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 proceedings is frivolous or                     
          groundless.  Although we do not impose a section 6673 penalty               


          4(...continued)                                                             
          the PRA are not met.  This provision, however, was merely a                 
          recodification of a similar provision that had been contained in            
          44 U.S.C. sec. 3512 since the inception of the PRA in 1980; the             
          1995 amendments clarified the time and manner in which a 44                 
          U.S.C. sec. 3512 defense could be asserted, and made other                  
          clarifying changes, but did not fundamentally alter the scope or            
          purposes of this provision.  See H. Conf. Rept. 104-99 at 36                
          (1995), reprinted at 1995 U.S.C.C.A.N. at 248-249; H. Rept. 104-            
          37, at 53 (1995), reprinted at 1995 U.S.C.C.A.N 164, 216 (“The              
          intended scope, purposes, and requirements of section 3512’s                
          current provisions on public enforcement of the Act’s information           
          collection clearance requirements are unchanged.”).  As                     
          previously discussed, numerous judicial precedents have                     
          consistently construed 44 U.S.C. sec. 3512 as offering no                   
          protection from statutory penalties for failure to pay taxes and            
          file tax returns; nothing in the 1995 amendments suggests any               
          different result.                                                           





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