Gregory Alberico - Page 10

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                  Petitioner claims that for the 1991 tax year, he provided                             
            respondent a complete set of original dog racing programs to                                
            substantiate the income reported on his Federal income tax return                           
            but that some of the programs were lost by respondent.6  However,                           
            at trial, both of respondent's tax auditors who were working on                             
            petitioner's audit, testified that they never received the pro-                             
            grams for the second half of 1991.  Petitioner failed to present                            
            any evidence to support his claim that he delivered these pro-                              
            grams to respondent.  He presented no receipt for the programs                              
            and offered no testimony or other evidence to corroborate his                               
            story.  Thus, petitioner presented an incomplete picture of his                             
            1991 gambling activities.                                                                   
                  When a taxpayer fails to maintain adequate books and                                  
            records, the Commissioner is authorized to reconstruct income by                            
            any reasonable means which will clearly reflect income.  Holland                            
            v. United States, 348 U.S. 121, 130-132 (1954); Conforte v. Com-                            
            missioner, 74 T.C. 1160, 1181 (1980), affd. in part and revd. in                            
            part 692 F.2d 587 (9th Cir. 1982).  Extrapolation is a permissi-                            
            ble method of proving the volume of unreported wagers.  Gordon v.                           
            Commissioner, 572 F.2d 193, 195 (9th Cir. 1977); Carson v. United                           
            States, 560 F.2d 693 (5th Cir. 1977).                                                       



            6Petitioner also provided respondent with a ledger showing                                  
            petitioner's net winnings or losses for each day that he gambled,                           
            and the cumulative running total of petitioner's net winnings or                            
            losses for the year.  However, petitioner admitted both at the                              
            audit and at trial that the ledger was inaccurate.                                          



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