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number. That is required before a checking account is
open. So I just made the determination that without a
checking account and I wanted the flow of cash, what we
would do is use the Morton B. Harper Trust account as a
holding account, and then I instructed the accountant
to properly credit and account for those funds. * * *
This explanation, however, seems to beg the question. Had
Michael sought promptly upon HFLP’s creation to establish a bank
account, he would have been immediately alerted to the need for
an EIN. Hence, he either neglected to attempt opening and/or
using an account or allowed the lack of an EIN to continue for
several months after having been reminded of its necessity. Both
reflect at best a less than orderly approach to the formal
partnership structure so pressed by the estate.
Moreover, we find Michael’s reliance on post mortem
accounting manipulations to be especially unavailing. Michael
and Mr. Blankstein, HFLP’s accountant, each testified that no
moneys actually changed hands in connection with the adjustments.
In response to similar contentions in Estate of Reichardt v.
Commissioner, supra at 154-155, we stated:
The 1993 yearend and 1994 post mortem adjusting entries
made by Hannah’s firm were a belated attempt to undo
decedent’s commingling of partnership and personal
accounts. There is no evidence that the partnership or
decedent transferred any funds to the other as a result
of the adjusting entries. After-the-fact paperwork by
decedent’s C.P.A. does not refute that decedent and his
children had agreed that decedent could continue to use
and control the property during his life. [Fn. ref.
omitted.]
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