Fred Willie Thomas, Jr. - Page 10

                                        -10-                                          
          Accordingly, petitioner has not carried his burden of proving               
          reasonable reliance on a qualified tax adviser.                             
               On brief, petitioner further argues that he had reasonable             
          cause for not filing returns because determining the proper                 
          taxpayer to report the income from the tile setting business was            
          a complex legal issue.  Even though several payors filed                    
          information returns reporting that petitioner earned self-                  
          employment income, petitioner contends that he believed Lorenzo             
          Thomas was the proper taxpayer, given that Lorenzo Thomas                   
          performed all of the actual tile setting.                                   
               In some cases taxpayers have succeeded in avoiding additions           
          to tax by showing that the deficiency resulted from an honest and           
          reasonable misunderstanding of complex law.  Metra Chem Corp. v.            
          Commissioner, 88 T.C. 654, 661 (1987) (no negligence for purposes           
          of sec. 6653(a)); Yelencsics v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 1513, 1533            
          (1980) (same); Belz Inv. Co. v. Commissioner, 72 T.C. 1209, 1233-           
          1234 (1979), affd. 661 F.2d 76 (6th Cir. 1981) (same).                      
               Petitioner's situation does not present a complex legal                
          issue reasonably susceptible of different interpretations.                  
          Petitioner earned income from his tile setting business that he             
          simply failed to report.  Petitioner has failed to demonstrate              
          the existence of a situation that only a very sophisticated                 
          taxpayer could reasonably be expected to comprehend.                        
               We conclude that petitioner has not shown that his failure             
          to file returns for the years at issue was due to reasonable                




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