- 28 -
(1960). The term "principal" means one's chief or main place of
residence. Thomas v. Commissioner, supra at 243; Stolk v.
Commissioner, 40 T.C. 345, 356 (1963), affd. 326 F.2d 760 (2d
Cir. 1964). In other words, the phrase "used by the taxpayer as
his principal residence" means "habitual use of the old residence
as the principal residence". Stolk v. Commissioner, supra, at
355.
The record clearly establishes petitioners' ties to and
presence in Florida throughout most of 1989. This evidence
includes: The purchase of the Mandarin house in Florida; the
relocation of TAI to Florida; the checking accounts in Florida;
the frequent ATM withdrawals in Florida; the Leaders appointment
sheet showing the Burlington house as vacant; the testimony of
Ms. Brenneman and Mr. Wilcox that the Burlington house was empty
and that their only contacts with petitioners were through phone
numbers or addresses in Florida; and the sales contract and
mortgage application for the Jacksonville Golf house.
Deborah never lived in the Burlington house on a regular
basis; Mr. Bowers never lived there on a regular basis after he
separated from Florence in October of 1987. In 1989 petitioners
physically occupied or lived in the Connecticut condo or the
Mandarin house most of the time.23 They signed the purchase
contract for the Jacksonville Golf house on October 1, 1989, and
23 Deborah spent one-third to one-half of her time with her
parents in Augusta, Georgia.
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