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v. Commissioner, 21 T.C. 678, 687 (1954). It is possible for
reasonable reliance on a competent agent to be a sufficient
defense to fraud. Davis v. Commissioner, 184 F.2d 86, 88 (10th
Cir. 1950), remanding a Memorandum Opinion of this Court.
Generally, such reliance indicates an absence of fraudulent
intent only when the agent has been provided with complete
information and there is no other evidence indicating fraudulent
intent. Merritt v. Commissioner, 301 F.2d 484, 487 (5th Cir.
1962), affg. T.C. Memo. 1959-172.
There are several problems with petitioner's placing the
blame for his underpayment of taxes with Mr. Pressley. First,
Mr. Pressley testified that after petitioner informed him of
income from Mr. Hall, he advised petitioner to obtain a Form 1099
from Mr. Hall. When petitioner told Mr. Pressley that it would
not be possible to obtain the information from Mr. Hall, Mr.
Pressley advised petitioner to estimate the amount of payments
and file an amended return after receiving the correct
information. Petitioner chose not to follow this advice and
filed his returns showing only the income that he had
documentation for. Consequently, we do not find that petitioner
relied on Mr. Pressley's advice. Second, petitioner did not
provide Mr. Pressley with complete information. In any event,
petitioner failed to tell Mr. Pressley about the amounts
involved. The unreported payments from Mr. Hall constituted over
three times the amount of taxable income reported on petitioner's
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