- 239 - liability for the addition to tax for negligence merely by shifting the responsibility to a tax professional. Enoch v. Commissioner, 57 T.C. 781, 802-803 (1972). Reliance on an expert is not an absolute defense but is a factor to be considered. Freytag v. Commissioner, supra at 888. A taxpayer's reliance must be in good faith and demonstrably reasonable. Ewing v. Commissioner, 91 T.C. 396, 423 (1988), affd. without published opinion 940 F.2d 1534 (9th Cir. 1991); Freytag v. Commissioner, supra at 888-889. In such a case, a taxpayer will be entitled to rely upon an expert's advice, even if the advice should prove to be erroneous. Jackson v. Commissioner, 86 T.C. 492, 539 (1986), affd. on other issues 864 F.2d 1521 (10th Cir. 1989); Brown v. Commissioner, 47 T.C. 399, 410 (1967), affd. 398 F.2d 832 (6th Cir. 1968). The ultimate responsibility for a correct return lies with the taxpayer, who must furnish the necessary information to the agent who prepared the return. Enoch v. Commissioner, supra at 802. In other words, reliance upon expert advice will not exculpate a taxpayer who supplies the return preparer with incomplete or inaccurate information. Lester Lumber Co. v. Commissioner, 14 T.C. 255, 263 (1950). Turning to the facts of the instant cases, we note that LTD did not file any income tax returns or withholding tax returns and that INC did not file any withholding tax returns. We have held that LTD is liable for corporate income tax for taxablePage: Previous 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 Next
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