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determined that the $45,615 was not excludable under section 104.
Petitioners have cooperated with all respondent’s requests for
meetings, interviews, witnesses, information, and documents,
including providing, within a reasonable time, access to and
inspection of witnesses, information, documents within
petitioners’ control, and assistance in obtaining access to such
items not within petitioners’ control.
OPINION
Gross income includes all income from whatever source
derived, including pensions and compensation for services. Sec.
61(a). However, section 104 provides for certain specific
exclusions from gross income. The issue in this case is whether
petitioners are entitled to exclude all or a part of the $45,615
that Mr. Forste received in 1996 pursuant to a structured
settlement agreement. Petitioners excluded the entire amount on
their joint Federal income tax return for 1996. Respondent
determined that no part of that amount is excludable from gross
income.
I. Burden of Proof--Section 7491
It is well established that statutory exclusions are to be
construed narrowly, see Commissioner v. Schleier, 515 U.S. 323,
328 (1995), and the taxpayer bears the burden of showing that he
falls squarely within the requirements for the exclusion.
However, under section 7491(a)(1), if, in any court proceeding, a
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