Gavin Polone - Page 36

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                    (B) the taxpayer had maintained all records                       
               required under this title and has cooperated with                      
               reasonable requests by the Secretary for witnesses,                    
               information, documents, meetings, and interviews; and                  
                    (C) in the case of a partnership, corporation, or                 
               trust, the taxpayer is described in section                            
               7430(c)(4)(A)(ii).                                                     
          The burden is on the taxpayer to show that he satisfied these               
          prerequisites.  H. Conf. Rept. 105-599, at 240, 242 (1998), 1998-           
          3 C.B. 747, 994, 996.                                                       
               Respondent contends, among other things, that petitioner did           
          not cooperate with respondent’s reasonable requests for                     
          information, documents, and interviews; therefore, the burden of            
          proof does not shift to respondent.  Respondent’s IDRs and                  
          request to interview petitioner were requests for information,              
          documents, and an interview.  Thus, we must decide whether                  
          respondent’s requests were reasonable and whether petitioner                
          failed to cooperate.                                                        
               A. Reasonable Request                                                  
               We consider all the surrounding facts and circumstances of             
          this case in deciding whether respondent’s request for witnesses,           
          information, documents, meetings, and interviews is reasonable.             
          Respondent requested information concerning the settlement                  
          documents regarding UTA’s termination of petitioner and regarding           
          petitioner’s tax return information for the years in issue.  This           
          information was relevant to the determination of the taxable                
          amount of the May 1996 payment, the November 1996 payment, the              





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