Alvin Victor Bracey - Page 7

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          section 6662(b)(1) and (c) includes "any failure by the taxpayer            
          to keep adequate books and records".  Sec. 1.6662-3(b)(1), Income           
          Tax Regs.  There is no requirement that a taxpayer maintain any             
          specific type of ledger or journal, so long as his overall                  
          recordkeeping is sufficient to establish the amount of his                  
          income.  Petitioner's business required travel to such an extent            
          that he essentially worked out of his automobile.  In the                   
          circumstances, we are not persuaded that respondent's insistence            
          on ledgers is realistic or appropriate.  Petitioner's method of             
          retaining his invoices in paid and unpaid categories was                    
          apparently "adequate" for 1991, as the parties have now                     
          stipulated that there was no underreporting of gross receipts in            
          that year.  As for 1990, petitioner failed to report $12,911 of a           
          total of $242,788 in gross receipts.  While the unreported amount           
          is not inconsequential, we are not persuaded that it constitutes            
          either "negligence", which includes "any failure to make a                  
          reasonable attempt to comply with the provisions" of the Internal           
          Revenue Code, or "disregard of rules or regulations", which                 
          includes "any careless, reckless, or intentional disregard".                
          Sec. 6662(c).  We believe that petitioner was making a                      
          reasonable, though flawed, attempt to keep track of his gross               
          receipts in the circumstances.  Respondent's reliance on Sindik             
          v. Commissioner, supra, is misplaced.  The taxpayer in that case            
          kept no records at all, which we found was a failure to make any            
          reasonable attempt to comply and therefore negligent.  Here, we             




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