- 25 -
T.C. at 371; Ford Motor Co. v. Commissioner, 102 T.C. 87, 91-92
(1994), affd. 71 F.3d 209 (6th Cir. 1995); see Cole v.
Commissioner, 586 F.2d 747, 749 (9th Cir. 1981), affg. 64 T.C.
1091 (1975). The reviewing court's task is not to determine
whether, in its own opinion, the taxpayer's method of accounting
clearly reflects income but to determine whether there is an
adequate basis in law for the Commissioner's conclusion that it
does not. Ansley-Sheppard-Burgess Co. v. Commissioner, supra at
371; Hospital Corp. of Am. v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1996-105.
Consequently, section 446 imposes a heavy burden on the taxpayer
disputing the Commissioner's determination on accounting matters.
Thor Power Tool Co. v. Commissioner, 439 U.S. 522, 532-533
(1979). To prevail, a taxpayer must establish that the
Commissioner's determination is "clearly unlawful" or "plainly
arbitrary". Id. However, if the taxpayer's method of
accounting is specifically authorized by the Code or the
regulations thereunder and has been applied on a consistent
basis, the Commissioner is ordinarily not permitted to reject the
taxpayer's method, as not providing a clear reflection of income,
and require the use of another method. Hallmark Cards, Inc. v.
Commissioner, supra at 31; Peninsula Steel Prods. & Equip. Co. v.
Commissioner, 78 T.C. 1029, 1050 (1982). Furthermore, this Court
has held that the Commissioner cannot require a taxpayer to
change from an accounting method which clearly reflects income to
an alternate method of accounting merely because the Commissioner
considers the alternate method to more clearly reflect the
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