Commissioner of Revenue v. Molesworth

The Commissioner of Revenue (commissioner) appeals from a decision of the Appellate Tax Board (board) ruling that the taxpayers may direct the commissioner to apply partial payments for late taxes to their underlying tax liabilities. We transferred the case here on our own motion and now affirm.

Throughout the 1970’s, Jack Molesworth suffered financial problems, due in part to the loss in a robbery, in 1971, of the entire inventory of his rare postage stamp business. Jack and Phyllis Molesworth (taxpayers) failed to file timely income tax returns or pay income taxes for the years 1978, 1979,…