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Mrs. Graham signed the amended 1998 return on November 8, 1999.
Petitioners point out that Lewellen did not charge for his
service for preparing the amended 1998 return, and argue that
this suggests that the error was Lewellen’s, not petitioners’.
We disagree.
Lewellen credibly testified that he did not know petitioner
had received client fees of $135,422 in 1998 until petitioner
telephoned him shortly after the original 1998 return was filed.
He also credibly testified that petitioners’ amended 1998 return,
dated November 8, 1999, was prepared several days after that date
and backdated at petitioner's request. In his 1999 lawsuit
alleging that Lewellen had negligently prepared petitioners’ 1998
tax return, petitioner did not refer to the fact that Lewellen
had not included client fees of $135,422 in petitioners’ original
1998 return.
Petitioner contends that he discovered the omission of the
$135,422 when he looked at a Quicken printout of law office
income and compared it to his original 1998 return several days
after mailing that return. Petitioner’s claim is unconvincing
because the parties stipulated and he admitted at trial that the
Quicken printout he gave to Lewellen on October 13, 1999, to
prepare the 1998 return did not include the $135,422.
Petitioner contends that the omission of $135,422 was an
innocent oversight, and that he had no fraudulent intent
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