- 9 -
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1997-429. Therefore, section 6653(a) as
in effect prior to the ERTA amendments is applicable to
petitioners' 1980 taxable years.
The pre-ERTA section 6653(a) and the "new" section
6653(a)(1) have substantially identical language. Respondent's
erroneous citation does not affect the validity of his
determination that petitioners' underpayments of tax for 1980
were due to negligence or intentional disregard of rules and
regulations. Burrill v. Commissioner, 93 T.C. 643, 670 n.28
(1989). However, the section 6653(a)(2) addition to tax asserted
by respondent for 1980 is without any statutory authority. The
addition to tax equal to 50 percent of the interest attributable
to a negligent underpayment was first introduced into the Code by
ERTA. Accordingly, we hold that petitioners are not liable for
the section 6653(a)(2) additions to tax for 1980 as determined by
respondent. Skyrms v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1997-69.
We now turn to the question of whether petitioners'
underpayments for the taxable years in issue were due to
negligence or intentional disregard of rules and regulations.
Petitioners contend that they did not act negligently because
they relied on the advice of Mr. Santella. Under some
circumstances, a taxpayer may avoid liability for negligence if
reasonable reliance on a competent professional adviser is shown.
United States v. Boyle, 469 U.S. 241 (1985); Freytag v.
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011