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States, 381 U.S. 68, 72 (1965); Massaglia v. Commissioner, 286
F.2d 258, 262 (10th Cir. 1961), affg. 33 T.C. 379 (1959). While
it is unfortunate that petitioner may have received unhelpful or
incorrect tax advice from an IRS employee, that advice does not
have the force of law and is not binding on the respondent or
this Court.
Because there is no corroborating evidence to substantiate
petitioner’s claimed dependency exemption deductions for the
years at issue, we hold that petitioner is not entitled to the
dependency exemption deductions for the 1997 and 1998 taxable
years. Respondent is sustained on this issue.
Head of Household Status
According to the relevant part of section 2(b), a taxpayer
shall be considered a head of household if such individual (1) is
not married at the close of the taxable year, and (2) maintains
as his home a household which constitutes for more than one-half
of the taxable year the principal place of abode of a son or
daughter of the taxpayer. Sec. 2(b)(1)(A)(i). Thus, petitioner
must establish that Adam and Jordan lived in petitioner’s home
for more than 6 months in both 1997 and 1998.
Because we determined above that Adam and Jordan were not in
the physical custody of petitioner for more than half of each
year at issue, petitioner could not have maintained a household
that was Adam and Jordan’s principal place of abode for more than
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