- 15 - that the amount of interest would be reported to the Internal Revenue Service. Id. Respondent contends that respondent was substantially justified in asserting the accumulated earnings issue because petitioner did not provide documents relevant to that issue in its protest letter dated May 15, 1991. We disagree. Respondent first proposed to assert the accumulated earnings issue in August 1991. It is unreasonable to fault petitioner for not anticipating that respondent would raise the accumulated earnings issue later. Respondent contends that petitioner acknowledged the need for trial in its motion to shift the burden of proof to respondent. We disagree; petitioner's motion to shift the burden of proof did not state that trial was needed. Rather, petitioner asserted that respondent should bear the burden of proof if the matter went to trial. Respondent contends that petitioner admitted that trial was needed by proposing 65 findings of fact after trial. We disagree. Petitioner properly proposed findings of fact in its posttrial brief. This has no bearing on whether respondent's position was substantially justified. Respondent argues that respondent's position was substantially justified because In response to discovery, petitioners represented that they had produced all documents establishing the allegations in their petition; but in fact not all ofPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Next
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