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were joint venturers; whether separate books of account
were maintained for the venture; and whether the
parties exercised mutual control over and assumed
mutual responsibilities for the enterprise. [Luna v.
Commissioner, 42 T.C. 1067, 1077-1078 (1964); Alhouse
v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1991-652, affd. sub nom.
Bergford v. Commissioner, 12 F.3d 166 (9th Cir. 1993).]
Petitioners contend that there never was a partnership.
They argue that petitioner and Messrs. Allingham, Raymond Staron,
and Bernard Staron never entered into a written partnership
agreement, never operated as a trade or business, and never
intended to form a partnership.
It is true that there was no written partnership agreement.
However, the lack of a written agreement is not dispositive. We
have previously held that a partnership existed without a written
agreement where other evidence indicated that two or more
individuals intended to and did operate as a partnership.
McManus v. Commissioner, 65 T.C. 197, 210 (1975), affd. 583 F.2d
443 (9th Cir. 1978); Demirjian v. Commissioner, supra at 1697-
1698.
The objective facts regarding Bass Associates contradict
petitioners' contention that there was no partnership from 1987
through 1990. The property was rented, rents were collected and
deposited into a checking account in Bass' name, and expenses
were paid out of the Bass accounts. For each of these 4 years,
the income and expenses related to the operation of the property,
were reported on partnership returns, and the percentages of each
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