10 August, 2011

Tax Excuses 684 - 695:

684. "When I’m in the Legislature, my cash flow is really tight and I can’t be out there billing" (he was John Campbell, the President of the Vermont State Senate, and he failed to pay the property taxes on his own home) ["Vermont Senate President Pays Off $6,000 Tax Debt," Brattleboro Reformer, 8 June 2011.].


685. I took the position that tax liability does not attach until the tax return is filed, so as long as I didn't file my tax returns I had no tax liability [Matter of Arthur Heald, State of Vermont Professional Responsibility Board, PRB File No. 2004.104 (15 June 2004)].


686. "[M]y wife and I finally decided that the circumstance in Colorado was beginning to significantly damage our family's quality of life, and we arranged for moving of the contents of our Illinois house to Colorado. When the moving van arrived, because the Colorado house was much smaller than the Illinois house, the garage was literally stacked with furniture and boxes from floor to ceiling, and the financial records were not reasonably accessible or organized. For practical purposes, the records needed to prepare my 2000 tax return remained unavailable until the summer of 2002." [Schroer v. United States, 594 F. Supp.2d 1257, 1265 - 1266 (D. Colo. 2008).].


687. Based upon our low reported income, I was concerned that our tax return would be pulled if we did not take the Earned Income Credit (they had fraudulently underreported their income) [United States v. Aldridge, 561 F.3d 759 (8th Cir. 2009), cert. denied 130 S. Ct. 1095, 175 L. Ed. 2d 913 (2010).].


688. Yes, I was the president of the corporation, but I was not allowed to pay the taxes without the approval of the corporation's investors [Reppert v. IRS, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 6160, 2011-1 U.S.T.C. (CCH) 50,298; 107 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1461 (11th Cir. 2011).].


689. I received notices from the IRS, I read them, but I just didn't do anything further with them (he failed to file Federal and state tax returns from 2002 through 2006, when his annual income was between $360,000 and $600,000) [Matter of Alexander P. Rosenberg, 82 A.D.3d 85, 918 N.Y.S.2d 20 (1st Dept. 2011).].


690. The IRS agent who audited me may have known me because she worked in the same building as I did (Taxpayer was an IRS employee who was subjected to the usual employee audit, and he failed to substantiate his deductions) [Freedman v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2010-155.].


691. If the IRS owes me a refund then I don't file my tax return. In 2008 my wife convinced me to file my 2005 tax return, and I was dumbfounded when the IRS reviewed the 2005 return and determined that there was a tax deficiency [Anderson v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Op. 2011-84.].


692. "In the course of investigation, the Commissioner requested the Appellant to supply the accounting books and records of the Business covering the period from 1 April 1994 to 31 March 2001. The books and records from 1 April 1996 to 31 March 2001 were supplied but those for the two years from 1 April 1994 to 31 March 1996 were alleged to have been damaged by water and excrement, and were not made available to the Commissioner." [Hong Kong Inland Revenue Board of Review Case No. D38/10 (14 January 2011).].


693. Our basement flooded and my wife mistakenly threw out a soaked box of papers which contained our financial records for our 1985 tax return. When my wife realized this, she didn't tell me because she didn't want me to be angry with her, so she just blocked it out of her mind. When it came time for her to do the 1986 taxes, the tax preparer asked her for our 1985 tax return, which did not exist, so she walked out of the tax preparer's office and blocked it out of her mind. The same thing happened with our 1987 taxes. When my wife finally told me, it caused an immediate and severe family crisis, and the family remained traumatized for over two years [Attorney Grievance Commission v. Gavin, 350 Md. 176, 711 A.2d 193 (1998).].


694. I was, in essence, a Rent-a-CEO brought on to facilitate the liquidation and reorganization process the firm. My role was merely that of a figure-head, employed by the venture capitalists spearheading the reorganization so that it appeared as though the Company had a Chief Executive Officer. I signed the Corporate Tax Returns for convenience purposes only [Layne v. Michigan Dept. of Treasury, Michigan Tax Tribunal, Docket No. 383266 (28 June 2011).].


695. "Ms. Brown cites to a litany of events that occurred between September 10, 1996 and April 2001. Specifically, Ms. Brown points to her difficult pregnancies, the serious medical issues suffered by her children and her grandmother (who lived with Ms. Brown), the supposed interference by the Ocala Police Department in the operation of Safe-Deposit, the supposed malpractice by the law firm she hired to file suit against the Ocala Police Department, the late payments by Safe-Deposit's clients, and the fact that she cannot remember the IRS ever advising her of the penalties for not paying the trust fund taxes as proof of the undue hardships she suffered which prevented her from paying the trust fund taxes." [Brown v. United States, 769 F. Supp. 2d 1355 (M.D. Fla. 2011).].