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they "took great care in keeping records" and that they have
shown that all of the deductions that respondent disallowed in
the notice are "legal, justified, and proven." In addition, Mr.
Grenville-Jones, who signed petitioners' 1993 return as tax
preparer, testified at trial, and it appears that petitioners may
be contending that they did not act negligently in filing that
return because they relied on Mr. Grenville-Jones.
The accuracy-related penalty is equal to 20 percent of the
portion of an underpayment to which section 6662 applies. Sec.
6662(a). Section 6662(b)(1) provides that section 6662 applies
to any underpayment attributable to negligence or disregard of
rules or regulations.
Negligence is defined as a lack of due care or failure to do
what a reasonable and prudent person would do under similar
circumstances. Allen v. Commissioner, 925 F.2d 348, 353 (9th
Cir. 1991), affg. 92 T.C. 1 (1989). Under certain circumstances,
a taxpayer may avoid the accuracy-related penalty for negligence
by showing that he or she reasonably relied on the advice of a
competent professional. Sec. 1.6664-4(b)(1), Income Tax Regs.;
see sec. 6664(c); Freytag v. Commissioner, 89 T.C. 849, 888
(1987), affd. 904 F.2d 1011 (5th Cir. 1990), affd. 501 U.S. 868
(1991). However, a taxpayer bears the responsibility for any
negligent errors of his or her professional adviser. See Ameri-
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