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amount imposed.6 Once the Commissioner meets this initial burden
of production to show that the imposition of an addition to tax
or penalty is appropriate, the taxpayer bears the burden of
proving his failure to file timely the required return did not
result from willful neglect and that the failure was due to
reasonable cause. Higbee v. Commissioner, 116 T.C. at 447.
Taking the extension into account, the due date for filing
petitioner's 1995 tax return was August 15, 1996. The return was
filed August 27, 1997. On this record, the Court concludes that
respondent produced sufficient evidence to show that the section
6651(a)(1) addition to tax is appropriate.
Petitioner cited a variety of reasons for not filing timely,
including his belief that he had overpaid his 1995 tax liability
through withholdings, reliance on an income tax adviser, chronic
depression, and "estoppel, waiver, that sort of thing", stemming
from his bankruptcy. However, the evidence in the record is
insufficient to absolve petitioner of liability on the basis of
the reasons he cited. In fact, petitioner was aware of his tax
obligations, as evidenced by a timely filed Form 4868,
Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S.
Individual Income Tax Return. See Radde v. Commissioner, T.C.
Memo. 1997-490. Further, petitioner was mistaken in his belief
6 Because the examination of petitioner's return
commenced after July 22, 1998, sec. 7491 applies.
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