Joseph J. House - Page 23




                                       - 23 -                                         
          874 (1991), affd. 959 F.2d 16 (2d Cir. 1992); Rowlee v.                     
          Commissioner, 80 T.C. 1111, 1123 (1983).                                    
               To satisfy the first prong, there must be clear and                    
          convincing evidence to support respondent’s determination of an             
          underpayment; i.e., clear and convincing evidence that JJH was a            
          sham and that the income generated from petitioner’s accounting             
          services belonged to him.  This prong must be satisfied with                
          affirmative proof, and a taxpayer’s failure to meet his or her              
          burden of proof alone will not suffice.  We find such clear and             
          convincing evidence here.  Much of this evidence came directly              
          from petitioner’s own testimony, including petitioner’s                     
          admissions that:  He was not an employee of JJH; he paid his                
          personal expenses from JJH’s account; the purported officers of             
          JJH, Charlene and Craig, knew nothing about JJH; he moved funds             
          in a circular manner among the accounts of JJH, CCA, and Coastal;           
          and he fabricated the numbers and categories on his 1994 return             
          (see discussion of fraud below).  These admissions together with            
          the other evidence detailed under our discussion of the                     
          deficiency are clear and convincing affirmative evidence that               
          petitioner underpaid his 1994 taxes.                                        
               With respect to the second prong of the fraud test; i.e.,              
          that petitioner had the requisite fraudulent intent, fraud may be           
          proven by circumstantial evidence because fraud can rarely be               
          established by direct proof of the taxpayer’s intention.  See               






Page:  Previous  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26  27  28  29  30  Next

Last modified: May 25, 2011