—"the only bad purpose or bad motive necessary for the government to prove is a deliberate intention not to file returns which the defendant knew ought to be filed."

This type of analysis produces language suggesting that "willfully" in § 7201 has a different meaning from the same term in § 7203.

Thus the term expresses, in a brief way, the more cumbersomely stated concept of specific intent in Murdock, a concept the instructions must ultimately convey.

In order to sustain conviction for failure to file timely income tax returns, government need only show that defendant was required to file return, that he knew he was so required, and that he distinwillfully or purposefully, as guished from inadvertently, negligently, or mistakenly, failed to file such return, and defendant's reasons for failing to so file are irrelevant.

This Court has recognized that only an inadvertent failure to file or a bona fide misunderstanding of the duty to make a return constitutes justifiable excuse under the meaning of "willful" in 26 USC § 7203.

It was open to the judge to conclude that since the defendant had filed Federal tax returns and had not proffered the 1974 return until a tax examiner came calling on him, his failure to file State tax returns was deliberate and, therefore, wilful in the statutory sense.

—regardless of how conscientious may be his beliefs, we give to the words of the statute the traditional meaning and reject the notion

Cases decided both before and after Bishop have been in agreement that "willfully" as used in § 7203 requires only that the Government prove a voluntary, intentional violation of a known legal duty.

First: That the Defendant was required by law or regulation to make a return of his income for the taxable year charged because he had a gross income of more than the statutory filing threshold; Second: That the Defendant failed to make a return at the time required by law; and Third: That the Defendant's failure to make the return was willful.

In the context of § 7203, the element of willfulness is established by proving that the defendant had knowledge of the legal obligation to file the tax return but, nevertheless, he voluntarily, deliberately, and intentionally chose not to do what the law requires.

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