Miller v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue , Docket No. 1215-67.
| Decision Date | 05 March 1969 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 1215-67. |
| Citation | 51 T.C. 915 |
| Parties | ZELMA CURET MILLER, PETITIONER v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, RESPONDENT |
| Court | U.S. Tax Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
James P. Quaid, Jr., for the petitioner.
George Tomlinson, for the respondent.
1. Petitioner filed two income tax returns in each of the years 1956, 1957, 1958, and 1959. Although she only filed one return in each of the years 1961, 1962, and 1963, she omitted her one-half of community property income and in most of the returns claimed dependency exemption deductions for nonexistent children. Petitioner did not appear at trial. Held: The default of petitioner will stand as entered and the deficiencies determined are upheld. Petitioner has failed to sustain her burden of proof. Held, further, respondent proved fraud by clear and convincing evidence in each year before the Court, and his determinations of additions to tax for fraud are likewise sustained.
Respondent determined deficiencies in petitioner's income tax and additions to tax pursuant to section 6653(b)1 for the following years:
+---------------------------------+
¦ ¦Deficiency ¦
+------+--------------------------¦
¦Year ¦Tax ¦Addition to tax ¦
+------+--------+-----------------¦
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦
+------+--------+-----------------¦
¦1956 ¦$563.64 ¦$281.82 ¦
+------+--------+-----------------¦
¦1957 ¦519.00 ¦259.50 ¦
+------+--------+-----------------¦
¦1958 ¦514.00 ¦257.00 ¦
+------+--------+-----------------¦
¦1959 ¦510.00 ¦255.00 ¦
+------+--------+-----------------¦
¦1961 ¦780.60 ¦390.30 ¦
+------+--------+-----------------¦
¦1962 ¦926.32 ¦463.16 ¦
+------+--------+-----------------¦
¦1963 ¦910.92 ¦455.46 ¦
+------+--------+-----------------¦
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦
+------+--------+-----------------¦
¦Totals¦4,724.48¦2,362.24 ¦
+---------------------------------+
When the case was called for trial there was no appearance by petitioner or her attorney, and the respondent moved for a default with regard to the deficiencies in income tax. The motion was granted. Previously, the Court had ordered petitioner to show cause why respondent's proposed stipulation of facts and exhibits should not be accepted as established for the purposes of the case. Petitioner filed no response or objections and at hearing set on the motion consented that the order be made absolute. Accordingly, it was ordered that all those facts set forth by respondent in his proposed stipulation of facts together with the attached exhibits be admitted into evidence and found accordingly pursuant to Rule 31(b)(5).
Petitioner's lawyer appeared in court after the petitioner's default had been entered. He offered no excuse for his tardiness, and announced that he did not know of petitioner's whereabouts and was not prepared to prosecute the case. He stated that petitioner desired to submit the case on the record. The Court then ordered that the case stand submitted and all previous orders of the Court would stand as entered.
The only issue remaining for adjudication is whether petitioner is liable for additions to tax on account of fraud under section 6653(b).
OPINIONThe petitioner is an individual who resided in New Orleans, La., at the time the petition was filed herein. Her Federal income tax returns for the taxable years involved herein were filed with the district directors of internal revenue in the city of New Orleans.
Petitioner signed and filed individual Federal income tax returns for the years 1956, 1957, and 1958 in the name of Z. M. Curet; for the year 1959 in the name of Zeilma Curet; for the years 1961 and 1962 in the name of Zelma M. Curet; and for the year 1963 in the name of Zelma Curet. Additionally, she signed and filed individual Federal income tax returns for the years 1956, 1957, and 1959 in the name of ‘Mrs. Leon Miller.’
The 1956, 1957, and 1958 returns filed by petitioner in the name of Z. M. Curet, and the 1959 return filed by her in the name of Zeilma Curet reflected only her earnings and withholdings from earnings for those years. The returns filed for those years by petitioner in the name of ‘Mrs. Leon Miller’ reflected only her one-half community interest in her husband's income for those years. Petitioner totally failed to report her one-half community interest in her husband's earnings on her returns filed in the name of Zelma M. Curet in the years 1961 and 1962, and in the name of Zelma Curet in the year 1963.
On her 1956, 1957, and 1958 returns filed in the name of Z. M. Curet, and on the 1959 return filed in the name of Zeilma Curet, she claimed exemptions for herself and one child, Elizabeth Miller. For each of those 4 years, she also filed returns in the name of ‘Mrs. Leon Miller’ in which she claimed exemptions for herself, and Betty Miller and Nina Miller, as her two children.
In 1961, petitioner filed only one return. She claimed exemptions for herself, and Betty Miller and Nina Miller, as her two children. This return did not include one-half of the community income...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Manning v. Commissioner
...Rowlee v. Commissioner, supra at 1125. Fraud has been found where the taxpayer claimed false exemptions, Miller v. Commissioner [Dec. 29,479], 51 T.C. 915, 917-918 (1969); and the taxpayer's explanations were implausible, Boyett v. Commissioner, supra. A taxpayer's failure to supply complet......
-
Green v. Commissioner, Docket No. 1405-91.
...1986), affg. [Dec. 41,982(M)] T.C. Memo. 1985-148; Parks v. Commissioner [Dec. 46,545], 94 T.C. 654, 660-661 (1990); Miller v. Commissioner [Dec. 29,479], 51 T.C. 915 (1969). In establishing that an underpayment exists, respondent may not rely merely upon the taxpayer's failure to carry the......
-
Olive v. Commissioner, Docket No. 6063-76.
...due to fraud. Sec. 7454(a); Rule 142(b); Levinson v. United States 74-1 USTC ¶ 9430, 496 F. 2d 651 (3d Cir. 1974); Miller v. Commissioner Dec. 29,479, 51 T.C. 915, 918 (1969). The Commissioner will carry his burden if he shows that the taxpayer intended to evade taxes which he knew or belie......
-
LiButti v. Commissioner
...1968 through 1971 were due to fraud. Respondent bears the burden of proving fraud by clear and convincing evidence. Miller v. Commissioner Dec. 29,479, 51 T. C. 915 (1969); Section 7454(a); Rule 142(b). Respondent's burden of proof may be met by the use of circumstantial evidence. Gajewski ......