On Penalties and Burdens
A burden is a burden, right? A thirty-three-year-old man-child, living in his mother’s basement, with a Cheeto-stained, self-described “ironical” mustache, then yes. That’s a burden, no matter how you slice it. No need to prove it or to produce evidence to support it. He’s a bum and a burden. Shave the flavor saver, and get a damn job, hippie. Proof and production, though. Six of one, half a dozen of another? Not when it comes to Tax Court proceedings, or so we found out last January in Frost v. Commissioner.[1] The burden of production is found in IRC § 7491(c), whereas proof—as well as in the pudding—is found in IRC § 7491(a). On Penalties and Burdens and Individuals In any Tax Court proceeding, under IRC § 7491(c), the IRS bears the burden of production with respect to the liability of an individual for any penalty.[2] To satisfy this burden the…