- 8 -
T.C. 1091 (1975); Ansley-Sheppard-Burgess Co. v. Commissioner,
supra. The Commissioner, however, cannot require a taxpayer to
change from an accounting method which clearly reflects its
income to an alternate method of accounting merely because the
Commissioner considers the alternate method to more clearly
reflect the taxpayer's income. Ansley-Sheppard-Burgess Co. v.
Commissioner, supra at 371.
Whether an abuse of discretion has occurred is a question of
fact. Id.; Ford Motor Co. v. Commissioner, 102 T.C. 87, 91-92
(1994), affd. 71 F.3d 209 (6th Cir. 1995); see Cole v.
Commissioner, supra at 749. The reviewing court's task is not to
determine whether, in its own opinion, the taxpayer's method of
accounting clearly reflects income, but to determine whether
there is an adequate basis in law for the Commissioner's
conclusion that it does not. Ansley-Sheppard-Burgess Co. v.
Commissioner, supra at 371; Hospital Corp. of Am. v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1996-105. Consequently, to prevail, a
taxpayer must prove that the Commissioner's determination is
arbitrary, capricious, or without sound basis in fact or law.
Ansley-Sheppard-Burgess Co. v. Commissioner, supra at 371; Ford
Motor Co. v. Commissioner, supra at 92.
Pursuant to sections 446 and 471, and the regulations
thereunder, a taxpayer that has inventories is required to use
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