Maria Neris Zelaya - Page 10

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               Petitioner’s account of the situation is plausible, and her            
          testimony was reasonable.  Petitioner notified respondent when              
          she did not received her refund check; she notified respondent              
          again when her apartment manager had located the check; and she             
          sought respondent’s permission to cash it.  Petitioner was not              
          expecting to receive a replacement check and did not provide                
          respondent with her updated address when she moved.  It took                
          petitioner’s apartment manager nearly 4 months to notify her that           
          her refund check had arrived, and it is reasonable to believe               
          that the replacement check might not have reached her once she              
          moved out of the apartment complex.  At trial, respondent                   
          continued to rely solely upon the conclusion that two very simple           
          printed signatures were both made by petitioner.  As previously             
          explained, petitioner provided more detailed and more persuasive            
          evidence concerning the circumstances in question.  Accordingly,            
          we hold that petitioner did not cash the replacement check.  Thus           
          there is an overpayment of $3,810 due petitioner for the taxable            
          year 1998.                                                                  
               Reviewed and adopted as the report of the Small Tax Case               
          Division.                                                                   
               To reflect the foregoing,                                              
                                             Decision will be entered for             
                                        petitioner.                                   








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