-28- that the determination of whether a property is used by a taxpayer as his principal residence "depends upon all the facts and circumstances in each case, including the good faith of the taxpayer." Generally, for property to be "used by the taxpayer as his principal residence" within the meaning of section 1034(a), that taxpayer must physically occupy and live in the dwelling. Houlette v. Commissioner, 48 T.C. 350, 354 (1967); Stolk v. Commissioner, 40 T.C. 345, 353-356 (1963), affd. 326 F.2d 760 (2d Cir. 1964). See generally Perry v. Commissioner, 91 F.3d 82 (9th Cir. 1996), affg. T.C. Memo. 1994-247, for a recent summary of applicable rules. For 1988, we have specifically found that petitioners did not occupy 14 Siros as their principal place of residence. We also found that, when he prepared and filed petitioners' return for 1988, petitioner was familiar with the requirements for deferral of gain under section 1034 and knew that petitioners did not qualify for deferral with respect to the gain on the property at 14 Siros, but nonetheless claimed the deferral on the return in order to defeat or avoid the taxes known to be owing on the gain that they realized from sale of that property. In addition, petitioners reported sale of their actual residence, Apricot, as a sale of business property, thereby concealing the identity of their actual residence. We reject the testimony by both petitioners at trial that they actually resided at 14 Siros and that they received rental income from a tenant at Apricot.Page: Previous 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Next
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