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office conducted a “thorough search” but found no record that
petitioner filed a Form 1040 for 1995. Arun Sharma, one of
respondent’s revenue agents, testified during the trial that he
had examined “IRS transcripts” in the administrative file for
this case, which “show that * * * [petitioner] did not file a
[1995] tax return.”
Petitioner testified that she had “no way to be positive
that * * * [Mr. Quarterman] mailed them [the 1995 tax forms that
he had “filled out”], but it is my belief that he mailed the 1995
tax return.”
Respondent’s Form 3050 and the testimony of Revenue Agent
Sharma, which support respondent’s position that petitioner never
filed a return for 1995, are more persuasive than petitioner’s
unsubstantiated belief that Mr. Quarterman filed a 1995 joint
return. See Rodriguez v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2003-153. As
we stated in Espinoza v. Commissioner, 78 T.C. 412, 421-422
(1982):
A long line of cases has established that the
running of the statute of limitations on assessment
requires the taxpayer to prove the date of the filing
of a return. Where there is a question as to whether
the return was filed, the records of the IRS are an
item of evidence. Moreover, the absence of an entry on
such record is evidence of the nonoccurrence of an
event ordinarily recorded. [Citations omitted.]
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