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years at issue, and adequately documented the income and expenses
from her law practice.
Our review of the evidentiary record, when filtered through
the parties’ arguments, convinces us that petitioner should not
be held liable for the addition to tax under section 6653(a)
based on respondent’s contention that she failed to keep adequate
records. As we have stated previously, we found petitioner’s
testimony, including her testimony regarding her record keeping
and her production of records during the audit, to be credible.
In addition, the documents petitioner produced at trial amply
demonstrated that she maintained records and that the records
were auditable. Moreover, we accept petitioner’s testimony that
she produced those records for examination by respondent’s
revenue agent and Appeals officer on several different occasions
over a period of several years. We are left with the impression
that any gaps in petitioner’s records at trial were more likely
than not the result of the passage of time, the multiple and
delayed reviews of petitioner’s records by respondent and others,
and petitioner’s difficult personal circumstances before and
during trial.
Respondent contends that petitioner’s record keeping was
inadequate, and therefore negligent, because she failed to
maintain formal books of account as required by section 1.6001-1,
Income Tax Regs., she failed to employ “competent help” to
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