Rogelio R. Balot and Zenaida V. Balot - Page 41




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          percent of any portion of an underpayment that is attributable to           
          the taxpayer’s negligence.                                                  
               Broadly speaking, for purposes of the provision, negligence            
          is the lack of due care or failure to do what a reasonable and              
          ordinarily prudent person would do under the circumstances to               
          determine that person’s income tax liability.  See ASAT, Inc. v.            
          Commissioner, 108 T.C. 147, 175 (1997); Cluck v. Commissioner,              
          105 T.C. 324, 339 (1995).  Negligence includes any failure to               
          keep adequate books and records.  See sec. 1.6662-3(b)(1), Income           
          Tax Regs.  Petitioners have the burden of proving error in                  
          respondent’s determination that the addition to tax should be               
          imposed against them.16  See Little v. Commissioner, 106 F.3d               
          1445, 1449-1450 (9th Cir. 1997), affg. T.C. Memo. 1993-281;                 
          Korshin v. Commissioner, 91 F.3d 670, 671 (4th Cir. 1996), affg.            
          T.C. Memo. 1995-46; ASAT, Inc. v. Commissioner, 108 T.C. at 175.            
               Petitioners have failed to introduce any evidence or offer             
          any relevant argument supporting their contention that respondent           
          erred in determining that the addition to tax under section                 
          6662(a) applies.  The following sentence represents the extent of           



               16Section 7491(c), relating to burden of proof with respect            
          to additions to tax, as enacted by sec. 3001 of the Internal                
          Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (1998 Act),            
          Pub. L. 105-206, 112 Stat. 685, 726, does not apply in the                  
          instant case because the examination in petitioners’ case began             
          before July 22, 1998, the effective date of sec. 7491(c).  See              
          the 1998 Act, sec. 3001(c)(1), 112 Stat. 727.                               






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