- 141 - or the substantial part of the investment be purchased by unrelated parties." Petitioners used related parties anyway. In one of Forsyth's draft letters, which recounted meetings with Santandreu, C&L advised against claiming a "super royalty" franchise payment and management fees.2 Petitioners claimed a super royalty, i.e., 15 percent, in addition to 2 percent management fees. Forsyth testified that documents marked "draft" were used for discussion purposes. Notes of a subsequent meeting, contained in C&L's files and introduced into evidence by petitioners, specifically refer to discussions of the royalty rates and management fees by reference to the draft document. Thus, we believe that petitioners were aware of and disregarded C&L's advice. Petitioners also rely on Heasley v. Commissioner, 902 F.2d 380, 383-384 (5th Cir. 1990), revg. T.C. Memo. 1988-408, and argue that petitioners did not have the knowledge or experience to question their advisers. See Vorshek v. Commissioner, 933 F.2d 757, 759 (9th Cir. 1991). We find material distinctions between the Heasleys and the officers of petitioners. Here, petitioners' officers had considerable business experience and were given specific requests and advice. Petitioners' officers were able to understand what was expected of them. 2 Petitioners contend that respondent's argument on this last point is based on an exhibit that was not received in evidence. We rely, however, on Exhibit BGS, which was received on May 1, 1996, and is quoted in our findings.Page: Previous 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 Next
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