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exceeds $600,000". Section 6075(a) provides that the estate tax
return shall be filed within 9 months after the date of the
decedent's death. Generally, an extension to file cannot exceed
6 months. Sec. 6081(a).
Decedent died on June 28, 1989. Petitioner was granted an
extension to file the estate tax return until March 28, 1991;
however, petitioner did not file the return until September 6,
1991. As a result of filing the estate tax return more than 5
months late, petitioner is subject to a 25-percent addition to
tax, unless the delinquency was due to reasonable cause and not
due to willful neglect.
In order to avoid the penalty, petitioner's argument is
based on Yang's claim that she relied on the accountant Wang's
advice. According to Yang, Wang stated that the estate tax
return might be required, depending on the value of the Oak Tree
Inn. With litigation pending in regard to the Oak Tree Inn, Wang
in 1990 suggested that an extension to file be submitted, which
was ultimately granted, extending the filing date until March 28,
1991. Later, in the summer of 1990, Wang told Yang that no
Estate Tax Return would be due. Then according to Yang, "[b]ased
upon Mr. Wang's advice that the Estate Tax Return would probably
not be required, I did not ask him again about the matter. I
felt that I could rely on Mr. Wang's advice because of his
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