From Procedurally Taxing: Donald Rumsfeld submitted a letter with his tax return saying
“I have absolutely no idea whether our tax returns and our tax payments are accurate”, and “I know that I cannot have any confidence that I know what is being requested and therefore cannot and do not know…whether or not [my] tax return is accurate.”
Mr. Olsen asks
Upon reading the letter, besides being mildly amused, I immediately wondered if the statements by Mr. Rumsfeld could actually have caused his return to be invalid. When you execute your Form 1040, you sign off on a jurat stating, “[u]nder penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this return and the accompanying schedules and statements, and to the best of my knowledge and belief, they are true, correct, and complete.” It would seem awful hard to swear something is true and correct if you “have absolutely no idea whether [it is] accurate.” So, did Mr. Rumsfeld’s comments cause him to negate the jurat and fail to timely file his return?
Here is an example of a situation compatible with Mr. Rumsfeld’s.