John Brockhouse v. United States

FLAUM, Circuit Judge.

This appeal raises the issue of whether the tax return preparer negligence penalty, section 6694(a) of the Internal Revenue Code,1 can be assessed against a preparer who understates income tax liability because he relied solely on information supplied to him by the taxpayers. The Inter*1250nal Revenue Service (“IRS”) assessed a penalty against appellant John Brockhouse. Pursuant to section 6694(c), the appellant paid 15% of the penalty and sued for a refund.2 The district court, 577 F.Supp. 55, denied the refund. For the reasons stated below, we affirm.

I

The appellant is a…