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Sprague and Becker readily admitted that they possessed no
special qualifications or professional skills in the recycling or
plastics industries. Steele did not testify, and there is no
showing in the records that he possessed any education or
experience in plastics materials or plastics recycling. Neither
Becker, Steele, nor Sprague ever hired or consulted any plastics
engineering or technical experts with respect to the Plastics
Recycling transactions. Becker spoke with his client Canno, who
apparently had some knowledge of the plastics industry, but the
substance of Canno's purported comments is doubtful and he had
only minimal information about the transaction. At trial Becker
confirmed that in the end he relied exclusively on PI, its
personnel, and the offering materials as to the value and
purported uniqueness of the machines. Sprague relied on Becker,
and Steele assisted Becker.
In support of their contention that they acted reasonably,
petitioners cite Mauerman v. Commissioner, 22 F.3d 1001 (10th
Cir. 1994), revg. T.C. Memo. 1993-23. However, the facts in the
Mauerman case are distinctly different from the facts of these
cases. In Mauerman, Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held
that the Commissioner had abused her discretion by not waiving a
section 6661 addition to tax. Like section 6659, a section 6661
addition to tax may be waived by the Commissioner if the taxpayer
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