Michael P. and Pamela J. Hopkins - Page 20

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          so stringent that a taxpayer’s treatment must be one that is                
          ultimately upheld in litigation or that has a greater than                  
          50-percent likelihood of being sustained in litigation.  Sec.               
          1.6662-4(d)(2), Income Tax Regs.  A taxpayer may have substantial           
          authority for a position even where it is supported only by a               
          well-reasoned construction of the pertinent statutory provision             
          as applied to the relevant facts.  See sec. 1.6662-4(d)(3)(ii),             
          Income Tax Regs.  There may be substantial authority for more               
          than one position with respect to the same item.  Sec.                      
          1.6662-4(d)(3)(i), Income Tax Regs.                                         
               The accuracy-related penalty under section 6662(a) does not            
          apply to any portion of an underpayment if it is shown that there           
          was reasonable cause for, and that the taxpayer acted in good               
          faith with respect to, such portion.  Sec. 6664(c)(1).  The                 
          determination of whether the taxpayer acted with reasonable cause           
          and in good faith depends on the pertinent facts and circum-                
          stances, including the taxpayer’s efforts to assess such tax-               
          payer’s proper tax liability, the knowledge and experience of the           
          taxpayer, and the reliance on the advice of a professional, such            
          as an accountant.  Sec. 1.6664-4(b)(1), Income Tax Regs.                    
               We have (1) sustained the determinations in the notice that            
          gave rise to the deficiency that respondent determined22 and                


               22Those determinations include a determination to disallow             
          the nonpassive loss of $103,150 from Mr. Hopkins’s S Corporation            
          that petitioners claimed in petitioners’ Schedule E.  That                  
                                                             (continued...)           




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