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Poplar v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1995-337; Schillinger v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1990-640, affd. without published
opinion 1 F.3d 954 (9th Cir. 1993). In all these cases we
required a showing of reasonable effort by the taxpayer to ensure
that the investment was a viable, profit-motivated transaction in
order for the taxpayer to avoid imposition of the negligence
additions.
In an attempt to distinguish himself from the taxpayers in
Buck, and other cases where negligence additions have been
sustained, petitioner cites Heasley v. Commissioner, 902 F.2d 380
(5th Cir. 1990), revg. T.C. Memo. 1988-408; Durrett v.
Commissioner, 71 F.3d 515 (5th Cir. 1996), affg. in part and
revg. in part T.C. Memo. 1994-179; Chamberlain v. Commissioner,
66 F.3d 729 (5th Cir. 1995), affg. in part and revg. in part T.C.
Memo. 1994-228; Mauerman v. Commissioner, 22 F.3d 1001 (10th Cir.
1994), revg. T.C. Memo. 1993-23. Petitioner cites these cases as
support for his contention that it was reasonable and not
negligent for him to rely on the advice of a professional adviser
without second-guessing or independently verifying the adviser.
To require otherwise, petitioner argues, would nullify the
purpose for seeking advice in the first place. See Heasley v.
Commissioner, supra. However, these cases are distinguishable
because they involve taxpayers who performed significantly more
investigation into the merits of the investment and/or sought out
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