Crowder v. Commissioner

• Decision Date: 24 July 1978
• Docket Number: Docket No. 10145-77.
• Citation: 37 TCM (CCH) 1173,1978 TC Memo 273
• Parties: James T. Crowder and Mary W. Crowder v. Commissioner.
• Court: U.S. Tax Court

37 TCM (CCH) 1173

1978 TC Memo 273

T.C. Memo. 1978-273.

James T. Crowder and Mary W. Crowder v. Commissioner.

Docket No. 10145-77.

United States Tax Court.

Filed July 24, 1978.

James T. Crowder and Mary W. Crowder, pro se, 3452 Timberview Road, Dallas, Tex. Norman A. Lofgren, for the respondent.

Memorandum Opinion^*

DRENNEN, Judge:

Respondent determined deficiencies in petitioners' income taxes and additions to tax as follows:

                _______________________________________________________________________________________
                    Petitioner
                    James T. Crowder
                                                                   Additions to tax, I.R.C. 1954
                    Year                    Deficiencies    sec. 6651(a)    sec. 6653(a)    sec. 6654
                _______________________________________________________________________________________
                    1973 ................    $7,217.66       $1,804.42        $360.88        $230.42
                    1974 ................     3,037.11          759.28         151.86          96.96
                _______________________________________________________________________________________
                 

                _______________________________________________________________________________________
                    Petitioner
                    Mary W. Crowder
                                                                   Additions to tax, I.R.C. 1954
                    Year                     Deficiency    sec. 6651(a)    sec. 6653(a)     sec. 6654
                _______________________________________________________________________________________
                    1973 ................     $7,217.65     $1,804.41         $360.88       $230.42
                    1974 ................      2,213.08        553.27          110.65         70.65
                _______________________________________________________________________________________
                

Petitioners were husband and wife residing in Dallas, Tex., at the time the petition was filed. James T. Crowder filed what purported to be Federal income tax returns for the years 1973 and 1974 with the Dallas office of the Internal Revenue Service.

This is another of the several so-called "tax-protestor" cases that were called from the Dallas trial calendar of this Court on June 5, 1978, either for trial or on various motions to dismiss. This case was heard on respondent's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.

In their petition petitioners alleged that the income tax returns they filed for the years 1973 and 1974, on which they entered no figures on the ground that to do so would violate their rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution, were filed as petitions for redress of grievances, a right guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution, that the issuance of the notice of deficiency forced them into the improper position of "petitioners" to the Tax Court in violation of due process of law, that they be granted a trial by jury, and that they be allowed the assistance of counsel of their own choosing. The petition alleged no specific errors in the notice of deficiency which forms the basis of this proceeding. At the hearing petitioners also refused to discuss their correct tax liability for the years 1973 and 1974 or any alleged errors made by respondent in his determination thereof.

Since the jurisdiction of this Court is to redetermine the correct amount of the tax liability of the taxpayers who file petitions herein, and petitioners have alleged no errors in respondent's determination thereof, and have refused to offer any evidence of their correct tax liability for the years involved, petitioners have failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and respondent's motion to dismiss has been granted. Egnal v. Commissioner Dec. 33,489, 65 T. C. 255 (1975); Blanchard v. Commissioner Dec. 34,683(M), T. C. Memo. 1977-352. See also the Memorandum Opinion issued in the case of Cameron v. Commissioner Dec. 35,282(M), T. C. Memo. 1978-272, released today, the petitioner in which was one of the so-called "tax-protestor" group whose cases were called on this trial calendar.

With reference to the specific allegations made in the petition, the income tax returns filed by petitioners for 1973 and 1974 were not valid returns since they did not contain sufficient data from which their tax liability for the year could be determined. Cupp v. Commissioner Dec. 33,459, 65 T. C. 68 (1975), affd. 559 F. 2d 1207 (3d Cir. 1977); Hatfield v. Commissioner Dec. 34,628, 68 T. C. 895 (1977). The issuance of the notice of deficiency did not force petitioners to become "petitioners" in the Tax Court in violation of due process of law because they could have paid the deficiencies and filed suit for refund in the United States District Court or the United States Court of Claims. Nash Miami Motors, Inc. v. Commissioner 66-1 USTC ¶ 9354, 358 F. 2d 636 (5th Cir. 1966); Rockwell v. Commissioner 75-1 USTC ¶ 9324, 512 F. 2d 882 (9th Cir. 1975). Petitioners are not...