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A Form 4868 is invalid if the taxpayer fails to properly
estimate his or her tax liability based on information available
to the taxpayer when the extension is requested. Clayton v.
Commissioner, 102 T.C. 632, 650 (1994); Crocker v. Commissioner,
92 T.C. 899, 908, 911 (1989). A taxpayer must estimate his or
her tax liability carefully and must make a reasonable attempt to
find information on which to base the estimate. Crocker v.
Commissioner, supra. The mere fact that a taxpayer
underestimates his or her tax liability does not invalidate a
Form 4868 or void an automatic extension. Id. at 907.
3. Whether Petitioners Properly Estimated Their Tax
Petitioners contend that they estimated their tax with
reasonable care on Forms 4868 for the years in issue. They
contend that the lack of tax documents, such as partnership tax
returns from petitioner’s law firm and a Form 1099 for the
pension distribution, is reasonable cause for their failure to
estimate their tax for 1990 more accurately. They also argue
that their oversight was understandable in the rush of completing
and filing their Form 4868 for 1990.
We disagree. Petitioner has shown no reason why he, as
senior partner, could not have obtained the partnership returns
sooner. Petitioners could have ascertained the amount of the
draws that petitioner received from his law firm in each year in
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