Osama A. Mowafi - Page 5




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          half of his personal services during the year in real property              
          trades or businesses in which he materially participated and (2)            
          he worked more than 750 hours a year in those real estate                   
          activities.  See sec. 469(c)(7)(B); see also Rule 142(a)                    
          (petitioner bears the burden of proof); Welch v. Helvering, 290             
          U.S. 111, 115 (1933) (same).  Petitioner’s burden requires, in              
          part, that he maintain sufficient documentation to substantiate             
          the time that he devoted to his rental properties.  See sec.                
          6001; Hradesky v. Commissioner, 65 T.C. 87, 90 (1975), affd. per            
          curiam 540 F.2d 821 (5th Cir. 1976).  As to the evidence that he            
          may introduce to prove the amount of his personal time that he              
          devoted to the rental properties, section 1.469-5T(f)(4),                   
          Temporary Income Tax Regs., 53 Fed. Reg. 5727 (Feb. 25, 1988),              
          provides:                                                                   
                    (4) Methods of proof.  The extent of an                           
               individual's participation in an activity may be                       
               established by any reasonable means.  Contemporaneous                  
               daily time reports, logs, or similar documents are not                 
               required if the extent of such participation may be                    
               established by other reasonable means.  Reasonable                     
               means for purposes of this paragraph may include but                   
               are not limited to the identification of services                      
               performed over a period of time and the approximate                    
               number of hours spent performing such services during                  
               such period, based on appointment books, calendars, or                 
               narrative summaries.                                                   
               Petitioner has failed to carry his burden; i.e., we are not            
          persuaded by the record that he was a real estate professional in           
          either year.  Petitioner strives to meet his burden by relying              
          primarily on his testimony at trial and noncontemporaneous logs             





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