ORDERS:
CONSENT ORDER OF DISMISSAL
The
Petitioner above-named, the South Carolina Department of Revenue (“SCDOR”),
issued a Final Agency Determination (the “Determination”) in this matter on
October 27, 2005. In the Determination, the SCDOR alleged that Respondent Jeffrey
Martin and two other individuals had committed certain violations of IRS
Circular 230 that had been incorporated into South Carolina law pursuant to
S.C. Code Ann. § 12-60-90. The Determination concluded by stating the SCDOR’s
intention to disbar Mr. Martin and the two other individuals named in the
Determination from representing South Carolina taxpayers in the administrative
tax process.
Mr.
Martin timely appealed the Determination by filing a Notice of Request for
Contested Case Hearing with this Court on November 23, 2005. The parties have
advised the Court that they have compromised and settled the dispute existing
between them and wish to have the terms of that compromise entered as a Consent
Order of this Court.
The
Court has reviewed the terms of the parties’ Agreement and finds them to be
fair and reasonable. Accordingly, those terms shall be entered as a Consent
Order of this Court.
NOW,
THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED:
1. Respondent has maintained
throughout these proceedings that he has never engaged, and does not intend to
engage, in the administrative tax process in South Carolina. Should
circumstances require such engagement by Respondent in the future, however, Respondent
shall submit a completed Form SC 2848 to the SCDOR before representing any
taxpayer in South Carolina in the administrative tax process in tax matters.
2. Respondent
has denied the material facts in the Determination and has further denied SCDOR’s
contentions that he is liable under S.C. Code Ann. § 12-60-90 and Circular 230
for the facts and circumstances alleged in the Determination. Respondent has
further denied that the SCDOR has jurisdiction to discipline him under §
12-60-90. Nothing in this Agreement is intended to constitute an admission of the
material facts in the Determination, an admission of liability on Respondent’s
part, or a waiver or surrender of Respondent’s position that the SCDOR lacks
jurisdiction to discipline him.
3. Respondent
and SCDOR agree to pay their own costs and attorneys’ fees arising from this
matter.
4. The Determination, which
does not represent a final judgment or administrative finding of misconduct against
Mr. Martin, is dismissed WITH PREJUDICE as it applies to Mr. Martin. Nothing in this Consent Order of Dismissal is intended to affect or
compromise the Department’s claims against the two other individuals named in
the Determination.
Since no hearing is now required in this matter, Mr. Martin’s
Request for Contested Case Hearing and Motion To Dismiss are WITHDRAWN.
AND IT IS SO ORDERED at Columbia, South Carolina this 16th day of February, 2006.
____________________________________
The
Honorable Marvin F. Kittrell
Chief
Administrative Law Judge |
