- 19 - dependent for either year. We therefore sustain respondent’s determination that petitioner is not entitled to an additional exemption for his spouse for taxable years 1994 and 1995. To claim additional exemptions for his stepdaughters, petitioner must prove that he provided more than one-half of their total support in 1994 and 1995. See sec. 152(a)(2). In applying the support test, we evaluate the amount of support furnished by the taxpayer as compared to the total amount of support received by the claimed dependent from all sources. See Turecamo v. Commissioner, 554 F.2d 564, 569 (2d Cir. 1977), affg. 64 T.C. 720 (1975); sec. 1.152-1(a)(2)(i), Income Tax Regs. In other words, in order to establish that the taxpayer provided more than one-half of the claimed dependent’s support, the taxpayer must first show, by competent evidence, the total amount of support received by the claimed dependent from all sources during the year in issue. Otherwise, the taxpayer cannot be said to have established that he or she provided more than one-half of the support for the claimed dependent. See, e.g., Blanco v. Commissioner, 56 T.C. 512, 514-515 (1971); Seraydar v. Commissioner, 50 T.C. 756, 760 (1968); Stafford v. Commissioner, 46 T.C. 515, 518 (1966). Petitioner presented no evidence that he provided more than one-half of the support for his stepdaughters during taxable years 1994 and 1995. Accordingly, petitioner's claim toPage: Previous 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011