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taxpayer receives money under a claim of right and without
restriction as to its disposition, he has received taxable income
in the year of receipt, even if he is under a contingent
obligation to return it. See N. Am. Oil Consol. v. Burnet, 286
U.S. 417, 424 (1932); Nordberg v. Commissioner, 79 T.C. 655, 664-
665 (1982), affd. without published opinion 720 F.2d 658 (1st
Cir. 1983); Hope v. Commissioner, 55 T.C. 1020, 1030 (1971),
affd. 471 F.2d 738 (3d Cir. 1973). The taxpayer cannot postpone
reporting of the income until a final determination is made
concerning his entitlement to the disputed amounts. Estate of
Etoll v. Commissioner, 79 T.C. 676, 679 (1982).
To avoid the application of the claim of right doctrine,
petitioner must at least have recognized in the year of receipt
“an existing and fixed obligation to repay the amount received”
and made provision for repayment. Nordberg v. Commissioner,
supra at 665 (quoting Hope v. Commissioner, 55 T.C. at 1030).
Here, petitioner has never, so far as the record reflects,
recognized an obligation to repay the amounts that he received in
1988. Apparently, he merely wishes to retain the right to claim
that he is entitled to more money from Wright.
Petitioner did return and thereafter refused to accept
$45,000 of the proceeds that he was entitled to under the
settlement agreement. He apparently did so for strategic
reasons, however, and not because he recognized an obligation to
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