-22- United States v. White Dental Co., 274 U.S. 398 (1927); A.J. Indus., Inc. v. United States, 503 F.2d 660, 670 (9th Cir. 1974); CRST, Inc. v. Commissioner, 92 T.C. 1249, 1257 (1989), affd. 909 F.2d 1146 (8th Cir. 1990). In determining a taxpayer's intent to abandon, the "subjective judgment of the taxpayer * * * as to whether the business assets will in the future have value is entitled to great weight and a court is not justified in substituting its business judgment for a reasonable, well-founded judgment of the taxpayer." A.J. Indus., Inc. v. United States, supra at 670. Here petitioner formed an intent to abandon the partnership interest as well as the road equipment sometime after 1987 when the contract was canceled and no payments were forthcoming. The missing element, however, is an affirmative act of abandonment. An affirmative act to abandon must be ascertained from all the facts and surrounding circumstances, United Cal. Bank v. Commissioner, 41 T.C. 437, 451 (1964), affd. per curiam 340 F.2d 320 (9th Cir. 1965), and "the Tax Court [is] entitled to look beyond the taxpayer's formal characterization", Laport v. Commissioner, 671 F.2d 1028, 1032 (7th Cir. 1982), affg. T.C. Memo. 1980-355. "The mere intention alone to abandon is not, nor is non-use alone, sufficient to accomplish abandonment." Beus v. Commissioner, 261 F.2d 176, 180 (9th Cir. 1958), affg. 28 T.C. 1133 (1957). Petitioner has not shown an affirmative act ofPage: Previous 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Next
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