- 12 - the record indicates that the profit being earned by petitioner was being passed through and reported as income by anyone. Mr. Golden admits that each item of expense charged to the drivers by petitioner was marked up, and he attempts to explain that this markup was not shown as income on its returns because it covered “administrative costs associated with this service.” Petitioner introduced no evidence of any administrative costs, and given the fact that the only two people involved in petitioner’s business were Mr. and Mrs. Golden, we think it is unlikely that any administrative costs were incurred by petitioner regarding these marked-up expenses. The fact that petitioner may have deposited all of its income and the fact that petitioner cooperated with respondent does not militate against a finding of fraud. We agree with respondent that the underpayment in each of the years at issue is attributable to the fraud of Mr. Golden and is therefore attributed to petitioner. The record shows that petitioner engaged in a 3-year pattern of understating income and overstating expenses. Petitioner failed to keep adequate records and concealed the income from petitioner’s tax return preparer by providing him only with unsubstantiated income and expense amounts. Mr. Golden possessed sufficient education and knowledge of his duty to report petitioner’s income. He provided implausible explanations, such as that petitioner was simply aPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011