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justified. Respondent also objects to the amount of costs
claimed by petitioner. Respondent concedes that petitioner
satisfies all other requirements for recovery under section 7430.
B. Position of the United States
In the context of a claim for litigation costs, the position
of the United States with respect to any issue is that set forth
in the Commissioner’s answer in the judicial proceeding. E.g.,
Maggie Mgmt. Co. v. Commissioner, 108 T.C. 430, 442 (1997). In
the instant case, the underlying controversy between the parties
presented several issues, including (1) the propriety of certain
business expense deductions claimed by the Fieldses under section
162, (2) the availability of relief under section 6015(c), (3)
the applicability of the fraud penalty under section 6663 or, in
the alternative, the accuracy-related penalty under section 6662
(for negligence or disregard of rules or regulations), and (4)
the applicability of the late filing penalty under section
6651(a)(1). Petitioner does not assert that respondent’s
position with respect to each of those issues was not
substantially justified; rather, petitioner essentially limits
her claim in that regard to respondent’s position with respect to
the fraud penalty.5
5 In her reply to respondent’s objection to the motion,
petitioner also claims, within the context of her argument that
her costs are reasonable in amount, that respondent’s alternative
position with respect to the accuracy-related penalty was not
(continued...)
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