John E. and Concetta Lozon - Page 8

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          in Butts v. Commissioner, supra, invited the presentation of                
          additional evidence--evidence the Commissioner put forward in               
          Mosteirin I.  We concluded it was not unreasonable for the                  
          Commissioner to try to sustain the position because these                   
          additional facts were not before the Court in Butts and Smithwick           
          v. Commissioner, supra.  Furthermore, Butts and Smithwick were on           
          appeal when the trial in Mosteirin I was held.  In concluding               
          that the Commissioner was substantially justified, we cited Moore           
          v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1989-306, which held that the                   
          Government's position is not unreasonable when testimony is                 
          needed to clarify a factual controversy.                                    
               The Court further noted that since the trial in Mosteirin I            
          the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed our             
          decisions in Butts and Smithwick, we reaffirmed our view in                 
          Mosteirin I, and these developments should have facilitated                 
          resolution of the classification issue in other cases involving             
          NOA's of Allstate.  The Court left "'for another day the decision           
          whether costs and fees should be available in a case in which               
          respondent continues to advocate a position * * * previously                
          judicially * * * disapproved'".  Mosteirin v. Commissioner, T.C.            
          Memo. 1995-419 (quoting Mearkle v. Commissioner, 87 T.C. 527, 533           
          n.10 (1986), revd. on other grounds 838 F.2d 880 (6th Cir.                  
          1988)).  That day has come.                                                 
               In Lozon I, we found that there were no essential facts                
          distinguishable from those presented in Butts and no legal                  




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