Philip L. and Sara N. Eckert - Page 7

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          none of the checks should have been applied to Southwestern’s               
          unpaid employment tax liability.  At trial, petitioner took the             
          position that only the $10,000 check was erroneously applied to             
          Southwestern’s unpaid employment tax liability.  Specifically,              
          petitioner testified that in March 1996 an IRS employee “came               
          knocking on my door * * * saying that we hadn’t submitted the ‘94           
          tax return”.  According to petitioner, he gave the revenue agent            
          the $10,000 check at that time, together with verbal instructions           
          to apply the $10,000 to petitioners’ 1994 tax liability.  Like              
          the other two checks delivered to respondent in March 1996, the             
          $10,000 check did not bear any indication as to the tax                     
          liabilities to which the amount was to be applied.  Furthermore,            
          nothing in the record suggests that petitioners had previously              
          received any correspondence from respondent with respect to the             
          1994 tax liability.  At the time the checks were delivered to               
          respondent, petitioners had not yet filed their 1994 return.  The           
          1994 return was not filed by petitioners until June 1, 1999.                
          Furthermore, respondent did not assess petitioners’ 1994 tax                
          liability until February 7, 2000.                                           
               Disregarding petitioner’s self-serving, uncorroborated, and            
          implausible testimony on the point, see Niedringhaus v.                     
          Commissioner, 99 T.C. 202, 212 (1992), we find that petitioners             
          have failed to present any credible evidence that the $10,000               
          payment made in March 1996 was intended to have been applied to             






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