- 47 - affirmative evidence. See Beaver v. Commissioner, 55 T.C. 85, 92 (1970). Courts have developed various factors or badges which tend to establish fraud. These include: (1) A pattern of understatement of income; (2) inadequate records; (3) concealment of assets; (4) income from illegal activities; (5) attempting to conceal illegal activities; (6) implausible or inconsistent explanations of behavior; and (7) dealings in cash. See McGee v. Commissioner, supra at 260; Snavely v. Commissioner, supra. In addition, the taxpayer’s sophistication, education, and intelligence may also be considered in determining the existence of fraud. See Sadler v. Commissioner, supra. No single factor or any combination of factors will necessarily lead us to the conclusion that fraud exists. We must examine whether a pattern of fraudulent intent was established on the basis of an examination of the entire record. Respondent argues that the record is replete with indicia of fraud by petitioners, including the following: (1) Gross undervaluation of the 1989 and 1990 stock bonus awards; (2) the hiding of the animal trophy collection expenditures by recording them in different accounts in the company’s general ledger at the direction of Dr. Gow; (3) lack of petitioners’ credibility in statements made both at audit and at trial; and (4) charging of personal items as business expenses. Moreover, respondent claims that petitioners’ knowledge of tax and accounting issues supportsPage: Previous 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 Next
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