William Henry Sundel - Page 25

                                       - 25 -                                         

             petitioner's primary motivation was tax evasion but must                 
             show that a "tax-evasion motive played any part" in his                  
             conduct, including conduct designed to conceal another                   
             crime.  See Recklitis v. Commissioner, supra at 909                      
             (quoting Worcester v. Commissioner, 370 F.2d 713, 717                    
             (1st Cir. 1966), vacating T.C. Memo. 1965-199).                          
                  The existence of fraud is a question of fact to                     
             be resolved upon consideration of the entire record.                     
             See Castillo v. Commissioner, supra at 409; Rowlee v.                    
             Commissioner, supra at 1123; Gajewski v. Commissioner, 67                
             T.C. 181, 199 (1976), affd. without published opinion 578                
             F.2d 1383 (8th Cir. 1978).  Fraud will never be imputed or               
             presumed, but must be established by independent evidence.               
             See Recklitis v. Commissioner, supra at 910; Castillo v.                 
             Commissioner, supra; Beaver v. Commissioner, 55 T.C. 85,                 
             92 (1970).  However, because direct proof of a taxpayer's                
             intent is rarely available, fraud may be proved by                       
             circumstantial evidence, including the implausibility of                 
             the taxpayer's explanations.  See Boyett v. Commissioner,                
             204 F.2d 205, 208 (5th Cir. 1953), affg. a Memorandum                    
             Opinion of this Court dated Mar. 14, 1951; Castillo v.                   
             Commissioner, supra; Stephenson v. Commissioner, 79 T.C.                 
             995, 1005-1006 (1982), affd. 748 F.2d 331 (6th Cir. 1984);               







Page:  Previous  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26  27  28  29  30  31  32  Next

Last modified: May 25, 2011