You have a small dispute with the IRS. The IRS alleges that you owe $554 and $1142 for the two years in question. You elect to file a Tax Court petition. When most people go to Tax Court, they work with the Court and the IRS (the respondent in a Tax Court action) so that their case can be heard and the judge can determine who is right.
However, today we look at what happens when a bozo petitioner brings a Tax Court action. Would he: (a) allege that respondent’s counsel has, “engaged in serious misconduct”; (b) allege that the “presiding judge has failed and failed again to show any semblance of impartiality”; (c) refuse to accept service of court documents (sent by certified mail); (d) send the IRS an ultimatum demanding settlement on his terms and not appear in any of the pre-trial hearings/motions; or (e) all of the above.
You already know the answer—we’re dealing with a bozo here. All of the above happened and is documented in this case.
The IRS moved for dismissal because of lack of prosecution (the petitioner never brought the facts out on his case), and as the Tax Court noted, dismissal was a “relatively simple matter.”
The IRS also asked that the petitioner face a penalty under section 6673. The Tax Court noted that in a different case the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held,
“it is difficult to imagine a lesser sanction that would vindicate the integrity of the court proceedings and deter * * * [taxpayers] from similar misconduct. Wasteful and dilatory appeals unjustifiably consume the limited resources of the judicial system: “While judges, staff and support personnel have expended energy to dispose of this meritless appeal, justice has been delayed for truly deserving litigants.” Foret v. S. Farm Bureau Life Ins. Co., 918 F.2d 534, 539 (5th Cir. 1990). [Id.; fn. ref. omitted.]”
As the Court concluded, “Petitioner’s attempts to delay and his belligerence must be sanctioned to vindicate the integrity of this Court’s proceedings and to deter petitioner from similar misconduct in the future.” He received $1000 sanctions for each of the two cases heard.
Cases: Mack v. Commissioner, T.C. (two cases), T.C. Memo 2008-29
