                          T.C. Memo. 1998-376



                      UNITED STATES TAX COURT



                 ALAN MICHAEL NEWMAN, Petitioner v.
            COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent



     Docket No. 358-97.                     Filed October 16, 1998.



     Alan Michael Newman, pro se.

     Michael F. Steiner, for respondent.



              MEMORANDUM FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION


     PARR, Judge:   Respondent determined deficiencies in, and

additions to, petitioner's Federal income taxes as follows:

                                          Additions to Tax
     Year       Deficiency       Sec. 6651(a)(1)     Sec. 6654(a)
     1990         $7,204             $1,651              $428
     1991          8,339              2,049                468
     1993          9,013              2,253                378
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       All section references are to the Internal Revenue Code in

effect for the taxable years in issue, and all Rule references

are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure, unless

otherwise indicated.

       The issues for decision are:    (1) Whether for 1990, 1991,

and 1993 petitioner received and failed to report wages and

nonemployee compensation of $9,130, $12,158, and $22,927,

respectively.    We hold he did.    (2) Whether for 1990, 1991, and

1993 petitioner received and failed to report additional income

of $21,178, $19,771, and $10,913, respectively.      We hold he did

not.    (3) Whether for 1990, 1991, and 1993 petitioner is liable

for an addition to tax pursuant to section 6651(a)(1).      We hold

he is.    (4) Whether for 1990, 1991, and 1993 petitioner is liable

for an addition to tax pursuant to section 6654(a).      We hold he

is.

       Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found.

The stipulated facts and the accompanying exhibits are

incorporated herein by this reference.      At the time the petition

in this case was filed, petitioner resided in Santa Clara County,

California.

                          FINDINGS OF FACT

       During 1990, petitioner was employed by C.K. Trucking and

received wages and nonemployee compensation of $7,855 and $1,275,

respectively.
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     During 1991, petitioner was employed by Appraisal Tech and

the San Jose Mercury News.   Petitioner received $2,296 and $7,875

of wages and nonemployee compensation, respectively, from

Appraisal Tech.   Petitioner received nonemployee compensation of

$1,987 from the San Jose Mercury News.

     During 1993, petitioner was employed by Kushner & Robertson

and received wages of $22,927.

     In addition, respondent increased petitioner's income using

amounts determined from statistical data compiled by the Bureau

of Labor Statistics.   In calculating petitioner's income based on

Bureau of Labor Statistics' data, respondent selected 10 tables

which he believed were representative of petitioner's age, race,

family/earning composition, and geographics.   These 10 tables

totaled income of $278,512, which respondent divided by 10 to get

a base income of $27,851 for taxable year 1988.   Respondent

increased the 1988 base year amount for inflation to determine

the 1990, 1991, and 1993 Bureau of Labor Statistics income

amounts for petitioner of $30,969, $31,929, and $33,840,

respectively.1

     1
          Respondent introduced at trial the revenue agent's
workpapers showing how the Bureau of Labor Statistics tables were
used. Petitioner objected because he was not shown the
workpapers prior to their introduction at trial. Because
respondent did not show the workpapers to petitioner 15 days
before trial, as required by the standing pretrial order, the
workpapers were received only to show how the amount in the
statutory notice of deficiency was calculated, not for the truth
                                                   (continued...)
                                 - 4 -


     Respondent had little information regarding petitioner when

the tables representing petitioner's characteristics were

selected.    Respondent was unsure how petitioner's age was

determined.    Apparently, petitioner's race was presumed by the

revenue agent's observations.    Respondent did not have

petitioner's specific physical address and used only a general

Bay Area statistic.    The record is silent regarding how

petitioner's marital status and family composition were

determined.    Respondent also classified petitioner as a renter;

however, the record is silent as to if and where a title search

was conducted.

     Petitioner did not file Federal income tax returns for the

taxable years in issue.

                                OPINION

Issue 1.    Unreported Wages and Nonemployee Compensation

     Respondent determined that petitioner received and failed to

report wages and nonemployee compensation of $9,130, $12,158, and

$22,927 for 1990, 1991, and 1993, respectively.

     Petitioner does not challenge the merits of respondent's

determination.    Petitioner testified that he is not a tax

protester.    Petitioner's arguments, however, consisted of

hackneyed tax protester rhetoric that has been universally


     1
      (...continued)
of the numbers shown therein.
                                 - 5 -


rejected by this and other courts.       See, e.g., Wilcox v.

Commissioner, 848 F.2d 1007 (9th Cir. 1988), affg. T.C. Memo.

1987-225.    We shall not painstakingly address petitioner's

assertions "with somber reasoning and copious citation of

precedent; to do so might suggest that these arguments have some

colorable merit."    Crain v. Commissioner, 737 F.2d 1417, 1417

(5th Cir. 1984).    Suffice to say, petitioner is subject to

Federal income tax during the relevant years, and we sustain

respondent's determination.

Issue 2.    Additional Unreported Income

     Utilizing Bureau of Labor Statistics' data, respondent

determined that, in addition to the above referenced wages and

nonemployee compensation, petitioner had unreported income of

$21,178, $19,771, and $10,913 for 1990, 1991, and 1993,

respectively.

     Every taxpayer is required to maintain adequate records of

taxable income.    Sec. 6001.   Petitioner did not maintain adequate

records from which the amount of his income or Federal income tax

liability could be computed.    In the absence of such records, a

taxpayer's income may be reconstructed by any method that, in the

Commissioner's opinion, clearly reflects income.      Sec. 446(b);

Parks v. Commissioner, 94 T.C. 654, 658 (1990).      The

Commissioner's method need not be exact but must be reasonable.

Holland v. United States, 348 U.S. 121 (1954).      The reliance on
                                - 6 -


Bureau of Labor Statistics' data in reconstructing a taxpayer's

income has been held to be reasonable.     Giddio v. Commissioner,

54 T.C. 1530 (1970); Bennett v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1998-96.

     Respondent attempted to obtain information from petitioner

once he had been identified as a nonfiler.    Petitioner was not

cooperative.    Respondent obtained information from the various

institutions that reported Form 1099 information regarding

petitioner.    Respondent reconstructed petitioner's income using

this Form 1099 data.    Respondent also increased petitioner's

income using amounts determined from the Bureau of Labor

Statistics.    In doing so, respondent increased petitioner's 1990,

1991, and 1993 taxable income by $21,178, $19,771, and $10,913,

respectively.

     Petitioner testified that he was single and that his living

expenses were minimal.    Petitioner spent some part of the years

in issue living rent free with a friend.    When petitioner did pay

rent during the years in issue, it varied from $250 to $350 per

month, which included utilities.2   Petitioner did not eat out

very often.    Petitioner's phone bill was approximately $25 per

month.   Petitioner did not have any medical expenses during the

years in issue and did not have medical insurance.    Petitioner



     2
          Petitioner also testified that this amount included
food. From this amount approximately $20 to $30 per week was
spent on groceries.
                               - 7 -


did, however, maintain a car during the years in issue, a 1979

Ford Pinto.

     Petitioner has disproven that he had the additional income

determined by respondent by showing that his expenses were in

fact less than would be inferable from the Bureau of Labor

Statistics' data and did not exceed the amounts of wages and

nonemployee compensation identified above.     Accordingly, we hold

that petitioner is not liable for the additional deficiencies

determined by respondent's utilizing Bureau of Labor Statistics'

data for the years in issue.

     Issue 3.   Addition to Tax Under Section 6651(a)(1)

     Respondent determined an addition to tax under section

6651(a)(1) for failure to file a return.     Petitioner did not file

Federal income tax returns for the years in issue.       Accordingly,

respondent's determination on this issue is sustained.

Issue 4.   Addition to Tax Under Section 6654(a)

     Respondent determined an addition to tax under section

6654(a) for underpayment of individual estimated tax.      Petitioner

failed to pay estimated tax during the years in issue.

Accordingly, respondent's determination on this issue is

sustained.

     For the foregoing reasons,



                                            Decision will be entered

                                       under Rule 155.
