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duty by the bankruptcy trustee and Internal Revenue Service
officials. In particular, she disputed the bankruptcy court’s
treatment of various assets as belonging to the business when
those assets were not returned to the settlement estate. Again,
no evidence was presented to show what, if any, actions were
taken by her in the bankruptcy court to rectify these claims.
Section 165(a) allows as a deduction any loss sustained by a
taxpayer during the taxable year that is not compensated for by
insurance or otherwise. In order to sustain a theft loss
deduction, a taxpayer has the burden of proving a loss discovered
in the taxable year was incurred as a result of a casualty or
theft and the amount of such loss. Axelrod v. Commissioner, 56
T.C. 248, 256 (1971). The taxpayer must also prove ownership of
the stolen property. Draper v. Commissioner, 15 T.C. 135, 135
(1950); Jensen v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1979-379; Silverman v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1975-255; Whiteman v. Commissioner, T.C.
Memo. 1973-124.
For several reasons, petitioner is not entitled to a theft
loss deduction. First, the record does not establish to the
Court’s satisfaction the existence of a pension plan or the
amount of any contributions made to the plan. There can be no
theft of an asset whose existence is not firmly established, with
an ascertainable value, as belonging to the taxpayer. See sec.
1.165-8(d), Income Tax Regs. (“the term ‘theft’ shall be deemed
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