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there must be an amount that is immediately due and owing that
the obligor is ready, willing, and able to pay.” Childs v.
Commissioner, 103 T.C. 634, 654 (1994), affd. without published
opinion 89 F.3d 856 (11th Cir. 1996). The amount owed must
either be credited to the taxpayer or set aside for the taxpayer
so that the taxpayer has an unrestricted right to receive it
immediately, and the taxpayer being aware of these facts,
declines to accept the payment. Id. The constructive-receipt
doctrine precludes the taxpayer from deliberately turning his
back upon income otherwise available. Martin v. Commissioner,
supra.
The determination whether a taxpayer has constructively
received income is essentially a question of fact. Childs v.
Commissioner, supra at 654. We have long held that the doctrine
of constructive receipt is to be applied sparingly. The doctrine
is only to be invoked when the taxpayer has an unrestricted right
to receive payment of money that is available to him.
Furstenberg v. Commissioner, 83 T.C. 755, 792-793 (1984); Basila
v. Commissioner, 36 T.C. 111, 115-116 (1961) (citing Gullett v.
Commissioner, 31 B.T.A. 1067, 1069 (1935)).
Generally, receipt of payment by an agent is constructive
receipt by the principal. Md. Cas. Co. v. United States, 251
U.S. 342, 346-347 (1920); Burkes v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.
1998-61. An exception to the general rule exists if there is an
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