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David A. Tillotson was solely responsible for the
paying of these taxes, as he was [responsible for] all of
the household bills. I was not aware that he had not been
paying them. Due to the fact that he was home more than I,
he would always retrieve the mail before I had the
opportunity to do so. Therefore, if there was
correspondence between you and my household, I had no
knowledge of it.
The record shows that petitioner voluntarily signed the
1995, 1997, and 1998 joint returns. Petitioner testified, at
trial, that she did not review the joint returns before filing.
Petitioner further testified that she and Mr. Tillotson did not
have a joint bank account and that when she received a paycheck
she would negotiate the paycheck and give the cash to Mr.
Tillotson. Additionally, petitioner testified that she assumed
the liabilities reported on the joint tax returns were paid by
Mr. Tillotson and that she had no reason of knowing that such
liabilities were not paid.
It should be noted that the majority of the income tax
liability for taxable year 1995 was a result of petitioner’s wage
income. Also, petitioner has not offered any documentary
evidence supporting her testimony that she did not know or had no
reason to know that the reported liabilities would be unpaid at
the time the return was signed. It is well settled that we are
not required to accept self-serving testimony in the absence of
corroborating evidence. Lerch v. Commissioner, 877 F.2d 624,
631-632 (7th Cir. 1989), affg. T.C. Memo. 1987-295; Niedringhaus
v. Commissioner, 99 T.C. 202, 212 (1992). Upon the basis of the
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