Carlye A. Christianson - Page 19




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          1984-601; Lord v. Commissioner, 525 F.2d 741, 745 (9th Cir.                 
          1975), affg. in part and revg. in part 60 T.C. 199 (1973); Ruark            
          v. Commissioner, 449 F.2d 311, 312-313 (9th Cir. 1971), affg. per           
          curiam T.C. Memo. 1969-48; Niedringhaus v. Commissioner, supra at           
          211; Parks v. Commissioner, supra at 664-665; Miller v. Com-                
          missioner, 94 T.C. 316, 334 (1990); Recklitis v. Commissioner,              
          supra at 910; Castillo v. Commissioner, 84 T.C. 405, 409 (1985).            
          In addition, the taxpayer's background, including the sophistica-           
          tion, experience, and education of the taxpayer, and the context            
          of the events in question may be considered circumstantial                  
          evidence of fraud.  See Plunkett v. Commissioner, 465 F.2d 299,             
          303 (7th Cir. 1972), affg. T.C. Memo. 1970-274; Niedringhaus v.             
          Commissioner, supra at 211.  Although no single factor is neces-            
          sarily sufficient to establish fraud, the existence of several              
          indicia constitutes persuasive circumstantial evidence of fraud.            
          See Bradford v. Commissioner, supra at 307; Petzoldt v. Commis-             
          sioner, supra at 700.                                                       
               The record in this case is replete with indicia of fraud by            
          petitioner.  Petitioner, an attorney in private practice who also           
          served during the 1980's as a part-time judge of various local              
          courts in and around San Diego, California, was fully aware of              
          the requirement to report income and to file returns for the                
          years at issue.  She also knew about the possible criminal                  
          consequences for failing to file a return.  Nonetheless, pe-                
          titioner did not report any income or file a return for any of              




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