- 22 -
could be for personal use. Petitioners have not shown how much
of the payments to those stores was for school supplies.6
If the taxpayer establishes that he or she paid a deductible
expense but cannot substantiate the precise amount, we may
estimate the amount of a deductible expense, bearing heavily on
the taxpayer whose inexactitude is of his or her own making.
Cohan v. Commissioner, 39 F.2d 540, 543-544 (2d Cir. 1930). The
10 checks that were admitted in evidence, bank statements, and
other evidence do not show how much Susan Fairey paid for items
for her classroom, and she did not testify as to the amounts of
those expenses. Susan Fairey received $400 during each year in
issue to buy school supplies. We have no basis to estimate how
much she spent each year in excess of $400.
Petitioners contend that respondent had copies of all of
petitioners’ checks and bank statements nearly 2 years before
trial and that Hughs and respondent’s counsel, Michael Zima
(Zima), made conflicting statements about those records. We
6 On the morning of trial, petitioners for the first time
gave respondent copies of additional canceled checks for the
years in issue and what petitioner said was a summary of those
checks. The checks and the summary were not admitted in evidence
because petitioners did not provide them to respondent 14 days
before the first day of the trial calendar as ordered by the
Court in granting respondent’s motion to compel production of
documents and as required by the standing pretrial order. See
Rules 104(c)(2), 131(b). Admission into evidence of the checks
would not affect the result on this issue, however, because the
checks do not show whether the expenditures related to Susan
Fairey’s classroom.
Page: Previous 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011