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to negligence; it is only one factor to be considered. In order
for reliance on a professional adviser to relieve a taxpayer from
the negligence penalty, the taxpayer must establish that the
professional adviser on whom he or she relied had the expertise
and knowledge of the relevant facts to provide informed advice on
the subject matter. Freytag v. Commissioner, supra at 888.
Petitioners made no effort to ascertain the professional
background and qualifications of their return preparer, Mr.
Beltran. When they questioned him about the fact that their cash
contributions to charity on their returns were considerably in
excess of what they had in fact contributed, they blindly
accepted Mr. Beltran's explanations that they could deduct such
amounts based on their income levels. Petitioners did not go
beyond that to ascertain whether this was a correct statement of
tax law. The Court is satisfied that petitioners knew that they
could only claim deductions that could be substantiated.
Petitioners' failure to have someone examine the returns for them
with respect to entries on their returns, which they knew were
incorrect, constitutes negligence or disregard of rules or
regulations. Petitioners had reservations about the way Mr.
Beltran was preparing their returns, and they took no steps to
satisfy themselves that their returns were correct. These facts
demonstrate to the Court that petitioners made no reasonable
effort to ascertain their correct tax liability for the years at
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