- 6 - Petitioner’s testimony was that he thought it “probable” that the rounded dollar amounts were not income during the years in which they were received and transferred from the trust account to another account. In petitioners’ brief, they argue: b. Large Rounded Off Numbers. Mr. Kaufman has always contended that bills for work and expenses already done typically total up to odd dollars and cents; and that large rounded off amounts (such as $40,000) are much more likely to be retainers for future work than they are to be bills for work and expenses already done. Paragraph 6 of the petitioners’ pre-trial memorandum. And common sense tells you that’s true; and that the petitioners’ position is inherently probable. And the reason why you would get three checks from the company to make up the $40,000 amount is that different investors and reinsurers are responsible for different levels of risk at many of these companies, so that different (typically reinsurer) authorizations are required to get money in excess of a certain level (say, $20,000). Petitioners further show their tendency to rely on speculative afterthought in the following passage from their brief: 51. The $50,000 Heggen Mistake. The night before trial, Mr. Kaufman discovered he was been [sic] mistaken about a $50,000 Heggen item in 1992. * * * So he admitted that to the Court. But it now occurs to the petitioners, after further thought, that this mistake did not require the $50,000 to be INCOME. Getting it and putting it into the TRUST account would mean it still was NOT INCOME, though received. Respondent had a burden to show that it was EARNED that year as well as received into the trust account. Petitioner’s uncorroborated testimony is patently unreliable. We are not persuaded by petitioner’s belated rationalizations and attempts to exclude from taxable income amounts that he receivedPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011