Taxable Talk

A few years ago, there were two Tax Court cases resolved by closing agreements (a closing agreement is a settlement agreement of the case): God’s Helping Hands Living Estate Plan Trust, John M. & Thelma Smoll, Trustees v. Commissioner, docket No. 8468-01, and John M. & Thelma Smoll, Trustees v. Commissioner, docket No. 8489-01. These cases looked at whether the Trust should be recognized for tax purposes. The closing agreements stated, among other things, that the Trust would not be recognized for tax purposes and that the taxpayers would report their taxes for those years and all future years.

You're way ahead of me. Of course they didn't do that, or I wouldn't be writing this. In 2000 and 2001 the taxpayers used the trust (after signing an agreement that said they wouldn't do that). In 1999, 2002, and 2003 they didn't file returns (at least they didn't use the trust).

So not only do the taxpayers owe the tax, and interest, the IRS asserted that they committed willful fraud. As the Court noted,

"At trial and by facts deemed stipulated, respondent established by clear and convincing evidence that petitioners understated their 2000 and 2001 Federal income tax with the intent to commit fraud and that petitioner failed to file his 1999, 2002, and 2003 returns with the same intent...Petitioners have a pattern of failing to file tax returns and understating their income when they do file income tax returns. Petitioners also failed to maintain adequate records or cooperate with respondent, and they consistently provided respondent’s representatives with implausible or inconsistent explanations for their behavior."

The Court went on, noting that the actions demonstrated that they deliberately and willfully committed fraud.

There's a moral to this story. If you sign a closing agreement with the IRS, you had better follow it, because they'll be watching you.

Case: Smoll v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2006-157

Kent Hovind, who we wrote about last week, has pled not guilty to 58 counts (mainly tax fraud). His trial was set for September 5th. Hovind claims he's employed by God; among the charges are violations of bank reporting requirements on the withdrawal of over $400,000.

We're also sad to report that the same news story reports that Dinosaur Adventure Land has gone the way of the dinosaurs. The web site is still working, though.

The IRS acknowledged that the system they use to detect digital fraud was not updated before the 2006 tax year. This failure may have led to $300 million being paid in bogus tax returns.

The "Electronic Fraud Detection System," or EFDS was supposed to have been updated before the filing system began. But it wasn't, and the IRS estimates that only about one-third of fraudulent returns were discovered. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) is conducting its own investigation into the mess.

Congressional response was predictable—anger. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) noted, "I wonder if the IRS ever would have come clean if Congressional committees hadn't started looking into this issue."

In our opinion, the answer is easy—No.

News Story Here