Sybil M. Smith - Page 13




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          to hold her responsible for the understatement based on her                 
          response to questions about vacations and jewelry and separate              
          accounts.  She relies on the absence of the factors listed in the           
          statute as disqualifications, such as fraudulent intent or                  
          transfers of property to avoid tax.  Otherwise, she has not cited           
          any evidence from which we could conclude that respondent abused            
          his discretion in denying relief under section 6015(f).  See                
          Cheshire v. Commissioner, 115 T.C. 183, 198 (2000).                         
               Because of the gaps in the record, we need not discuss the             
          separate elements of each type of relief provided by section                
          6015.  The record is insufficient for us to conclude that                   
          petitioner is entitled to relief.  At the time of trial, the                
          original returns that were sent to the Internal Revenue Service             
          were not available.  Petitioner’s counsel stated at trial that              
          “we’ve got unsigned copies”, but the copies were not produced.              
          During the administrative consideration of petitioner’s claim for           
          relief under section 6015, petitioner was invited to present                
          additional information, but no further information was provided             
          by petitioner.                                                              
               The absence of corroborative testimony or documentation in             
          this case is troublesome.  Petitioner’s counsel claimed to have             
          served a subpoena duces tecum for trial on H. Smith and only                
          belatedly stated to the Court that the subpoena had been                    
          disregarded.  Counsel cited H. Smith’s failure to appear as                 






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