Duggan v. Commissioner

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JAN 26 2017 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT PHILIP A. DUGGAN, No. 14-71645 Petitioner-Appellant, Tax Ct. No. 3771-12 v. MEMORANDUM* COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent-Appellee. Appeal from a Decision of the United States Tax Court Submitted January 18, 2017** Before: TROTT, TASHIMA, and CALLAHAN, Circuit Judges. Philip A. Duggan appeals pro se from the Tax Court’s decision, after a bench trial, upholding the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue’s determination of income tax deficiencies and penalties for tax year 2008. We have jurisdiction under 26 U.S.C. § 7482(a)(1). We review de novo the Tax Court’s legal * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). conclusions, and for clear error its factual findings. Hardy v. Comm’r, 181 F.3d 1002, 1004 (9th Cir. 1999). We affirm. The Tax Court properly upheld the Commissioner’s deficiency determination because the Commissioner presented “some substantive evidence” that Duggan failed to report income and Duggan did not submit any relevant evidence “showing that the deficiency was arbitrary or erroneous.” Id. at 1004-05. The Tax Court properly upheld the Commissioner’s additions to taxes for Duggan’s failure to file a required tax return in a timely manner and for his failure to pay estimated taxes for 2008. See 26 U.S.C. §§ 6651(a)(1), 6654(a). We reject as meritless Duggan’s arguments regarding the Commissioner’s attorneys having “unclean hands.” AFFIRMED. 2 14-71645