Byers v. Commissioner

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
___________________________

No. 13-3292
___________________________

Ronald E. Byers

lllllllllllllllllllllAppellant

v.

Commissioner of Internal Revenue

lllllllllllllllllllllAppellee
____________

Appeal from The United States Tax Court

____________

Submitted: September 4, 2014
Filed: September 16, 2014
[Unpublished]
____________

Before MURPHY, BOWMAN, and BENTON, Circuit Judges.
____________

PER CURIAM.

Ronald Byers appeals from an adverse decision of the Tax Court,1 challenging
that court’s determination of his tax-deduction amount for tax year 2003, its refusal
to enforce a document subpoena, and its imposition of sanctions.

1
The Honorable Ronald L. Buch, United States Tax Court Judge.
 After careful review, we conclude that the Tax Court (1) did not clearly err in
calculating the tax-deduction amount at issue, see Blodgett v. Commissioner, 394
F.3d 1030, 1034–35 (8th Cir. 2005) (standard of review); (2) did not abuse its
discretion in declining to enforce Byers’s subpoena, see United States v. Roach, 164
F.3d 403, 412 (8th Cir. 1998) (same), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 845 (1999); and (3) did
not abuse its discretion in imposing a sanction under these circumstances, see 26
U.S.C. § 6673(a)(1) (stating that the tax court may impose a penalty when the
taxpayer maintains proceedings primarily for delay or takes a frivolous or groundless
position). Accordingly, we affirm.
______________________________

-2-