- 23 - otherwise prevent the collection of taxes. See Parks v. Commissioner, 94 T.C. at 661. The presence of fraud is a question of fact to be resolved upon consideration of the entire record. See Recklitis v. Commissioner, 91 T.C. 874, 909 (1988). Because direct proof of the taxpayer's intent is rarely available, fraud may be proven by circumstantial evidence. See Spies v. United States, 317 U.S. 492 (1943); Recklitis v. Commissioner, supra at 910. A taxpayer convicted of criminal tax evasion is collaterally estopped from denying liability for the civil fraud penalty. Moore v. United States, 360 F.2d 353 (4th Cir. 1965); Zamzam v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2000-371. Therefore, petitioner, having been convicted of criminal tax evasion for 1988, is liable as a matter of law for the fraud addition for 1988. Respondent must prove fraud by clear and convincing evidence for 1989 and 1990. Courts have developed a nonexclusive list of items of circumstantial evidence--often referred to as “badges of fraud”--that will support a finding of fraudulent intent. In Bradford v. Commissioner, 796 F.2d 303, 307 (9th Cir. 1986), affg. T.C. Memo. 1984-601, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit--to which an appeal of this case would lie--set forth the following indicia or “badges” of fraud: (1) Understatement of income; (2) maintenance of inadequate records; (3) failure to file tax returns; (4) implausible or inconsistent explanations ofPage: Previous 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Next
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