Ron L. and Gayle R. Stevenson - Page 9




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          both years in issue.  This section imposes a penalty equal to 20            
          percent of the portion of an underpayment that is attributable              
          to, among other things, negligence.  Petitioners will avoid this            
          penalty if the record shows that they were not negligent; i.e.,             
          they made a reasonable attempt to comply with the provisions of             
          the Internal Revenue Code, and they were not careless, reckless,            
          or in intentional disregard of rules or regulations.  See sec.              
          6662(c); Accardo v. Commissioner, 942 F.2d 444, 452 (7th Cir.               
          1991), affg. 94 T.C. 96 (1990); Drum v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.            
          1994-433, affd. without published opinion 61 F.3d 910 (9th Cir.             
          1995).  Negligence connotes a lack of due care or a failure to do           
          what a reasonable and prudent person would do under the                     
          circumstances.  See Allen v. Commissioner, 92 T.C. 1 (1989),                
          affd. 925 F.2d 348 (9th Cir. 1991); Neely v. Commissioner, 85               
          T.C. 934, 947 (1985).  This penalty is not applicable to any                
          portion of an underpayment to the extent that an individual has             
          reasonable cause for that portion and acts in good faith with               
          respect thereto.  See sec. 6664(c)(1).                                      
               Petitioners put forth no evidence from which we could                  
          conclude they were not negligent or that reasonable cause existed           
          for the failure to report income or for the disallowed items.  In           
          fact, petitioner admitted at trial that he did not report all his           
          income and he did not explain this failure.  We sustain                     
          respondent's determination on this issue.                                   





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