Robert G. Ruckman and Julie Ruckman - Page 21

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          records or tax returns, that he relied on Mrs. Ruckman for these            
          matters, and that he has done so for some time.  The testimony of           
          petitioners' accountant corroborates the foregoing.                         
               In 1991, the only year in which an omission of income                  
          occurred, Mrs. Ruckman was diagnosed with cancer, underwent                 
          surgery twice, and commenced radiation and chemotherapy                     
          treatments that extended through March 1992, when the 1991 tax              
          returns for Ruckman, Inc., and petitioners were completed.12                
          With respect to this period, and the failure to report the Happy            
          Trucking dispatch income, Mrs. Ruckman testified that "I didn't             
          know for a couple of years really how much had gotten away from             
          me, because I didn't know that I wasn't capable of what I was               
          trying to do."  As to Mr. Ruckman, we assess his responsibilities           
          with respect to the omitted income in light of his established              
          practice of relying on his wife for record keeping and the                  
          undoubted impact on him of having a spouse battling a life-                 
          threatening illness during the period.  In the circumstances of             
          this case, we conclude that petitioners acted in good faith and             
          had reasonable cause in failing to report the income at issue.              
          Accordingly, we will not sustain respondent's determination of              
          the accuracy-related penalty under section 6662(b)(1).                      
                                             Decision will be entered                 
                                        under Rule 155.                               


               12The signature dates on Ruckman, Inc.'s 1991 tax return and           
          on petitioners' personal joint return for that year indicate that           
          both returns were signed in March 1992.                                     



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