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Regs.
Petitioners argue that they had reasonable cause to file
their 1994 and 1995 returns late because petitioner’s mother and
petitioners’ daughter had prolonged illnesses in 1994 and 1995,
petitioner’s sister was in a serious car accident in 1994,
petitioner’s mother died in March 1996, and petitioner traveled
extensively for his architectural business.
Illness or incapacity of a taxpayer or illness of a member
of his or her immediate family may be reasonable cause for late
filing. See Williams v. Commissioner, 16 T.C. 893, 906 (1951);
Hayes v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1967-80. However, a taxpayer's
selective inability to perform his or her tax obligations, while
performing their regular business, does not excuse failure to
file. See Kemmerer v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1993-394; Bear v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1992-690, affd. 19 F.3d 26 (9th Cir.
1994); Bloch v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1992-1; Fambrough v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1990-104.
Petitioners point out that the District Court in In re
Craddock, 184 Bankr. 974 (D. Colo. 1995), revd. 149 F.3d 1249,
1255 (10th Cir. 1998), held that the taxpayers had reasonable
cause for late filing. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Tenth Circuit reversed the District Court’s holding in
Craddock on that issue. See In re Craddock, 149 F.3d at 1255-
1257. The U.S. Court of Appeals found that the taxpayer’s
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Last modified: May 25, 2011