- 15 -
his gambling losses as a tax preference item under the minimum
tax scheme governed by sections 55 and 56. See Valenti v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1994-483. Petitioners are not entitled
to gambling losses in excess of their income from gambling.2
VI. Accuracy-Related Penalty Under Section 6662
Respondent also determined that petitioners were negligent
and liable for an accuracy-related penalty under section 6662(a).
Section 6662(a) and (b)(1) imposes an accuracy-related penalty
equal to 20 percent of the portion of an underpayment that is
attributable to negligence or disregard of rules or regulations.
In determining whether petitioners were negligent in the
preparation of their returns, we take into account petitioner's
tax experience. Petitioner, a self-proclaimed "trained tax
specialist", should have realized that the deduction of 7 months
of living expenses as job-hunting expenses after a limited job-
hunting effort was not reasonable. Combining that with
petitioner's gambling losses presents a situation that was "too
2Petitioners made several other arguments which we found to
be outlandish, such as their request for $15 billion in punitive
damages. To the extent we have not addressed petitioners' other
arguments we find them to be without merit.
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011