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issues, the Commissioner’s concession of an issue by itself is
not determinative in the inquiry of whether his position was
substantially justified. Swanson v. Commissioner, 106 T.C. 76,
94 (1996).
Petitioner also contends that even if the documentation that
he submitted to respondent was insufficient to establish that his
children lived with him for more than 6 months of 1998,
respondent independently should have investigated the matter for
petitioner.4
On the contrary, it is not unreasonable for the Commissioner
to require a taxpayer to corroborate a claim concerning
dispositive and unresolved facts. Baker v. Commissioner, 83 T.C.
822, 830 (1984), vacated and remanded on another issue 787 F.2d
637 (D.C. Cir. 1986); see Williams v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.
1997-541, affd. without published opinion 176 F.3d 486 (9th Cir.
1999); Simpson v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1995-194. The
4 In the present case petitioner never did provide evidence
to establish that his children lived with him for more than 6
months of 1998. Petitioner did not even appear at the hearing on
this matter. Petitioner’s counsel did not obtain the required
evidence or arrange for petitioner to be present at the hearing.
Under the present condition of the record, not only was
respondent’s position reasonable with respect to the issue as to
petitioner’s entitlement to the earned income credit, but that
issue well might have been decided for respondent if respondent
had not conceded it as part of the overall settlement of the
case.
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