Hugh Wilkinson and Evelyn Wilkinson - Page 18

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               Non-Specific Personality Disorder encompassing elements                 
               of Avoidant, Dependant and Obsessive Compulsive                         
               Personality Disorders * * * resulting in [his]                          
               recurrent victimization at [the hands of others], low                   
               self-esteem, social and financial naivete,                              
               perfectionism and rigidity.                                             
               Incapacity on the part of a taxpayer due to mental or                   
          physical illness can establish reasonable cause for failure to               
          file timely returns.  United States v. Boyle, supra at 248 n.6;              
          Williams v. Commissioner, 16 T.C. 893, 906 (1951).  However, a               
          mental or emotional disorder does not excuse a failure to file               
          timely returns unless it is shown that the disorder rendered the             
          taxpayer incapable of exercising ordinary business care and                  
          prudence during the period in which the failure to file                      
          continued.  Bear v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1992-690, affd.                 
          without published opinion 19 F.3d 26 (9th Cir. 1994); Conley v.              
          Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1992-215.  Moreover, a taxpayer's                   
          selective inability to meet his or her tax obligations when he or            
          she can carry on normal activities does not excuse a late filing.            
          See Estate of McClanahan v. Commissioner, 95 T.C. 98, 101-102                
          (1990).                                                                      
               We are not convinced that Dr. Wilkinson's psychological                 
          state during the relevant time provided reasonable cause for his             
          untimely filings.  Dr. Wilkinson headed up a thriving medical                
          practice throughout 1989.  Despite his alleged depression,                   
          Dr. Wilkinson continued to attend to patients and perform various            
          medical procedures.  From 1985 to 1989, Dr. Wilkinson employed               





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