- 8 - During the year in issue, petitioner was involved in other legal proceedings of a personal nature, for which there is no record of any expense. The logical inference from the record is that the payments to Morse were personal expenses inappropriately deducted by petitioner. With respect to a deduction that was claimed for interest on an alleged business loan, petitioner’s tax return preparer, Wayne Paul (Paul), testified that he introduced petitioner to the lender, Paladine Combine. The payments claimed to support the deductions were made to Paul, allegedly to be forwarded to Paladine Combine. Paul refused to provide an address, a telephone number, or the name of an individual associated with Paladine Combine. Petitioner testified that he did not fill out a loan application or provide a financial statement to secure the loan. Petitioner produced only a note in which Paladine Combine agreed to pay principal and interest to petitioner. In support of certain travel expenses that were deducted, petitioner called Joseph D. Gordon (Gordon) to testify. Gordon claimed to have assisted petitioner in “finding funds” and with a personal bankruptcy problem. Petitioner and Gordon traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada, during 1996 and purportedly had a meeting at a casino with a prospective lender. Gordon’s testimony was questionable, was lacking in specifics, and was insufficient to support a finding of business purpose for the travel expenses.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011