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unsubstantiated, and the additions to tax assessed for
the said years accordingly improper.
As a threshold matter, we dispute any suggestion by
petitioner that substantiation was not sought by respondent for
the expenses claimed on the 1998 and 1999 returns. As revealed
in the exhibits introduced by petitioner and detailed more fully
in our above factual discussion of the administrative process,
substantiation was a focus of respondent’s examination for all
three of the years in issue.
More importantly, and contrary to petitioner’s assertion, it
is axiomatic that neither tax returns themselves, nor the
execution of such forms under penalty of perjury, establishes the
truth of items recited therein. Lawinger v. Commissioner, 103
T.C. 428, 438 (1994); Wilkinson v. Commissioner, 71 T.C. 633, 639
(1979); Roberts v. Commissioner, 62 T.C. 834, 837 (1974).
Petitioner’s reliance on his tax returns is entirely misplaced.
Thus, in absence of any evidence reflecting the propriety of the
business expense deductions claimed by petitioner, we sustain
their disallowance for lack of substantiation.
C. Section 6662 Penalty
Subsection (a) of section 6662 imposes an accuracy-related
penalty in the amount of 20 percent of any underpayment that is
attributable to causes specified in subsection (b). Subsection
(b)(1) of section 6662 then provides that among the causes
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