- 18 -
records of his purported IRA contribution nor did he demonstrate
that he maintained such records. The same may be said regarding
any IRA that Mrs. Kirshenbaum may have maintained.
We conclude that petitioner failed to substantiate the
making of any qualified IRA contribution pursuant to section 219
and, therefore, is not entitled to IRA contribution deductions.
Thus, we sustain respondent’s determination on this issue.
D. Accuracy-Related Penalty
As previously mentioned, section 7491(c) places on the
Commissioner the burden of production with respect to a
taxpayer’s liability for any penalty.20 However, the taxpayer
still has the burden of proving that the Commissioner’s
determination of the accuracy-related penalty is erroneous. Rule
142(a); INDOPCO, Inc. v. Commissioner, 503 U.S. 79, 84 (1992);
Welch v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 111, 115 (1933); Higbee v.
Commissioner, 116 T.C. 438, 446-448 (2001); BJR Corp. v.
Commissioner, 67 T.C. 111, 131 (1976); Bebb v. Commissioner, 36
T.C. 170 (1961). Moreover, in evaluating evidence, the Court is
not bound to accept as gospel the unverified and undocumented
testimony of a taxpayer. Tokarski v. Commissioner, 87 T.C. 74,
77 (1986); Hradesky v. Commissioner, 65 T.C. 87, 90 (1975), affd.
20 We hold that respondent satisfied the burden of
production under sec. 7491(a)(1) because the record shows that
petitioner failed to include certain items in income and claimed
deductions to which he was not entitled. Higbee v. Commissioner,
116 T.C. 438, 442 (2001).
Page: Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011