- 33 - the Internal Revenue Code. Cf. Westbrook v. Commissioner, 68 F.3d 868, 880-881 (5th Cir. 1995), affg. per curiam T.C. Memo. 1993-634. Other aspects of their recordkeeping for the show horse activity were careless, as evidenced by their failure to record or report their horses’ winnings, and their excess claims of horse show expenses in both years, including a claim of horse show expenses in 1993 despite a stipulation that none of their horses competed in shows that year. A failure to maintain adequate books and records is evidence of negligence. See sec. 1.6662-3(b)(1), Income Tax Regs. Petitioners contend that they are not liable for the accuracy-related penalty under section 6662(a) for either of the years in issue because they relied on the advice of their accountant. A taxpayer may demonstrate reasonable cause if he can show that he relied in good faith on a qualified adviser after full disclosure of all necessary and relevant information. See Jackson v. Commissioner, 86 T.C. 492, 539-540 (1986), affd. 864 F.2d 1521 (10th Cir. 1989); Paula Constr. Co. v. Commissioner, 58 T.C. 1055, 1061 (1972), affd. without published opinion 474 F.2d 1345 (5th Cir. 1973); sec. 1.6664-4(b)(1) and (c)(1)(i), Income Tax Regs. In this case, petitioners have failed to establish that they fully disclosed all necessary and relevant information to their accountant, Mr. Adelman. The record in this regard contains onlyPage: Previous 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011