- 5 -
When we sat down with our preparer * * *, he did his
figuring, came up with these numbers. He came up with the
number. We said, Now, will we need to provide
documentation? He said, That's not necessary, based on –-
and he pulled out * * * what looked like part of the Tax
Code or something out of the tax book there or manual, and
he showed us certain column, certain section, paragraph,
whatever. It states right here that documentation's not
necessary.
We said, Okay, that looks good to us. We didn't have
anything to –- we didn't have any reason to doubt him,
because before moving into our house in '99, we never
claimed itemized deductions. We had nothing to go off of
other than paying the IRS every year, going to H&R Block:
Here you go; how much do we owe; fine.
Petitioners presented no documentary information at trial
that would establish that they made any qualifying charitable
contributions during the 2 years at issue.
Although petitioners claimed (and the Court has no reason to
doubt their testimony) that they generously "gave" during the 2
years in question, the generosity to which their benevolence was
intended included gifts to family and friends, such as for
birthdays, weddings, and graduations, as opposed to donations to
qualified organizations. Sec. 170(c). Such gifts are not
deductible as charitable contributions under section 170(a) and
(b). Moreover, the tax return for the year 2000, which included
the donation of a BMW motor vehicle, did not include the IRS Form
8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions, which is required under
section 1.170A-13(b)(3), Income Tax Regs., relating to deductions
in excess of $500 for charitable contributions of property other
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