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failure to file continues, to a maximum of 25 percent of the tax.
Id.
The additions are applicable unless petitioners establish
that their failure to timely file the returns was due to
reasonable cause and not willful neglect. Id. If petitioners
exercised ordinary business care and prudence and were
nonetheless unable to file their returns within the date
prescribed by law, then reasonable cause exists. Sec. 301.6651-
1(c)(1), Proced. & Admin. Regs. “Willful neglect” means a
“conscious, intentional failure or reckless indifference.”
United States v. Boyle, 469 U.S. 241, 245 (1985).
Petitioners timely filed and were granted automatic
extensions to file their respective 1994 and 1995 Federal income
tax returns on August 15, 1995, and August 15, 1996,
respectively. Petitioners’ returns were filed with the Kansas
City, Missouri, field office on August 21, 1995, and August 23,
1996, respectively.
The postmark on the envelope attached to their 1995 return
shows a date of August 15, 1995. We find that petitioners timely
filed their 1994 Federal income tax return. Sec. 7502.
Accordingly, petitioners are not liable for the addition to tax
under section 6651(a) for 1994.
Petitioners’ 1996 envelope in which their 1995 return was
mailed was not available in the record. Mr. Reimer testified
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