John C. Archer and Nancy M. Archer - Page 10




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          preparer’s mistakes, and (3) that the taxpayer was relying in               
          good faith on the advice of a competent return preparer.  See               
          Westbrook v. Commissioner, 68 F.3d. 868, 881 (5th Cir. 1995),               
          affg. T.C. Memo. 1993-634; Cramer v. Commissioner, 101 T.C. 225,            
          251 (1993), affd. 64 F.3d 1406 (9th Cir. 1995).  Petitioner                 
          testified in general terms that he described the substance of the           
          sale of the shares to Melvin, but petitioners have not shown that           
          they provided Melvin with complete and accurate information or              
          that the incorrect return resulted from Melvin’s mistakes.                  
          Melvin did not testify.                                                     
               The taxpayers in Streber v. Commissioner, supra, were about            
          20 and 25 years old and lacked business experience when they each           
          received an inheritance of more than $1 million.  They hired a              
          lawyer to advise them of their potential tax liability.  They               
          followed the advice of the lawyer.  Petitioner is not like the              
          taxpayers in Streber because he is a lawyer, and he negotiated              
          the agreement at issue.                                                     
               The taxpayer in Reser v. Commissioner, supra, was not                  
          personally involved with the transaction which caused the                   
          deficiency.  See id. at 1268.  In contrast, petitioner personally           
          negotiated the terms of the agreement in the instant case.  The             
          tax issue in Reser was a complex basis computation for which the            
          taxpayer had no special knowledge.  See id.  In contrast, the               
          issue of how much the parties allocated to PAYS’ covenant not to            






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