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Petitioner testified that she relied on her accountant, who
is a certified public accountant. Petitioner further testified
that she provided her accountant with the necessary information
for him to prepare returns and that she believed her accountant
had requested extensions of the time to file. We are not
satisfied that petitioner’s actions amounted to a good faith
effort to comply with income tax laws. Even giving petitioner the
benefit of the doubt that she relied on, or more likely
misunderstood, her accountant’s advice, petitioner was certainly
aware of the obligation to file income tax returns, which she did
for 2000, the tax year for which she believed she was entitled to
a refund. Her understanding (or, more likely, misunderstanding)
of her accountant’s advice with respect to later years amounts to
an endorsement of a strategy of preventing the Government from
applying the refund she expected with respect to the 2000 tax year
to a tax that she might owe in later years. This does not
constitute a good faith effort to comply with income tax laws.
Consequently, this factor weighs against petitioner.
Not all the factors in section 4.03 of the modified
guidelines weigh against petitioner, just as not all of the
factors in section 4.01 or 4.02 of the modified guidelines weigh
against her. However, because we find that: Respondent is
4(...continued)
2001; petitioner was therefore not entitled to this tax credit
for years after 2000.
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