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contention less than persuasive to establish reasonable cause for
Mr. Constantino's failure to discharge that duty.
Similarly, petitioner's suggestion that the late filing was
attributable to Mr. Belotz' concern that a return must be
complete is without merit. An agent's unwillingness to file a
return timely does not furnish reasonable cause for that failure.
Estate of Archer v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1984-57; see
Denenberg v. United States, supra at 306-307. Moreover, the
record indicates that, in large measure, Mr. Constantino left
matters concerning petitioner's estate tax return to Mr. Belotz.
The duty to file a return is nondelegable, and, if that
responsibility is shifted to an agent, the taxpayer must accept
the consequences of shortcomings in the performance of that duty
by the agent. United States v. Boyle, 469 U.S. at 249-250;
Conklin Bros., Inc. v. United States, 986 F.2d 315, 317-318 (9th
Cir. 1993); Ferrando v. United States, 245 F.2d 582, 589 (9th
Cir. 1957). Mr. Belotz indicated in his testimony that he did
not believe that the addition to tax for failure to file timely
would be imposed on the estate because the amount of its payment
of estimated estate tax was larger than the estate tax liability
that was ultimately reported in its return.7 Mr. Belotz' belief,
7 If the amount of petitioner's estate tax had not exceeded the
payment that had been made when the initial extension of the due
date was requested, no additional liability on account of the
failure to file timely would have arisen because sec. 6651(b)(1)
provides that, for purposes of calculating the addition, the
(continued...)
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