- 5 -
Apart from withholdings from Mrs. Godwin’s teacher’s salary,
petitioners did not pay estimated taxes on any of their 1997
income. Instead, during 1997, petitioners spent “a lot” of the
$1 million fee to build their residence in Atmore, Alabama (the
Atmore residence), which had a cost basis of $989,158.
Petitioners also spent a portion of the $1 million fee to
purchase 1,068 acres of timberland in Geneva County, Alabama (the
timberland). Petitioner visited the timberland several times in
1998, primarily for recreational purposes but also to aid his
efforts to resell a portion of the property. Petitioners also
made charitable contributions that substantially exceeded their
contributions in prior and subsequent years.
Petitioners resided and owned real property in counties of
Alabama affected by various natural disasters in 1997 and 1998.
On May 3 and October 24, 1997, earthquake tremors occurred in
Escambia County, Alabama (hereinafter the May earthquake and the
October earthquake and collectively the 1997 earthquakes), where
petitioners were building the house that constitutes their
principal residence. On July 25, 1997, President Clinton
designated three Alabama counties, including Baldwin County where
petitioners own a vacation house on the Gulf of Mexico (the bay
house), as disaster areas as a result of Hurricane Danny, which
occurred in July 1997. On September 30, 1998, President Clinton
designated 14 Alabama counties, including Baldwin and Escambia
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011