- 5 - At trial, petitioner testified that the reason he could not substantiate the expenses was that most of his records and receipts had been destroyed. Petitioner stated that the U-Haul trailer, which contained most of his records and receipts, became unhitched and overturned, destroying all of its contents. We note for the record that petitioner failed to produce any evidence of the destruction of the trailer. Notwithstanding the lack of such evidence, we recognize that when a taxpayer's records have been lost or destroyed through circumstances beyond his control, he is entitled to substantiate a deduction by reconstruction of his expenditures through other credible evidence. Watson v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1988-29. Absent the availability of further documentation, although not required to do so, this Court may accept credible testimony of a taxpayer. Watson v. Commissioner, supra. On this record, we find that petitioner failed to provide any information or credible testimony regarding the expenses associated with his law practice. Petitioner provided no receipts, bills, journals, ledgers, canceled checks, or expense statements. Moreover, petitioner failed to reconstruct any portion of his expenses. Instead, petitioner submitted to the Court copies of court pleadings involving the litigation of his two civil cases.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
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