- 26 - sum payment "would not be considered taxable income". There is no factual basis for such argument in the record of this case. Neither petitioner nor the FBI agent who was called as a witness testified that an FBI agent gave petitioner any such advice. Indeed, petitioner did not even ask the FBI agent about any such statements. Petitioner does not identify the agent or employee of the FBI who allegedly gave him such advice, nor did he subpoena such person to testify. We do not accept petitioner's attempt to explain his failure to call the agent to testify on the ground that the undercover operation was ongoing at the time of trial or that it would have been compromised by the agent's testimony. There is nothing in the record to suggest that the operation was ongoing at the time of trial, but, even if it were, there is no reason to believe that the agent's testimony concerning statements about the taxability of petitioner's lump-sum payment would have compromised the operation. Indeed, petitioner exhibited no such reluctance in 1994 when he filed suit against the FBI and six of its special agents seeking a greater share of the money and property that had been seized during the undercover operation. We find that petitioner failed to show that his failure to file a return for 1993 was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect, and we sustainPage: Previous 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Next
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