- 5 -5 against him by former patients. In 1983, a lawsuit was filed by Dianna Dall'Occhio against Mr. Marcus (the Dall'Occhio lawsuit). Mr. Marcus did not carry malpractice insurance at the time of the Dall'Occhio lawsuit. An attorney, John DiCaro (DiCaro), handled the settlement of that lawsuit. Petitioners deducted $10,112 in legal expenses on their 1990 individual Federal income tax return for alleged payments to five attorneys. Petitioners substantiated all of the payments to four of the five attorneys, in the amount of $6,368, by providing copies of canceled checks during the audit of petitioners' 1990 Federal income tax return. Petitioners did not provide respondent with copies of canceled checks made payable to DiCaro. Respondent disallowed the remaining amount which petitioners allegedly paid to DiCaro. ULTIMATE FINDINGS OF FACT As a substitute for a bequest of property and in settlement of all claims which she had against her stepfather's estate, the sisters agreed to pay Mrs. Marcus one-third of the net proceeds from the estate when and as it was liquidated. Petitioners did not provide any substantiation for the alleged payments to DiCaro. OPINION This case deals with two separate and distinct issues, a capital gain versus tax-free inheritance issue and a substantiation of attorney's fees issue. Should we find forPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011