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Under certain circumstances, this Court may accept the
credible testimony of witnesses regarding the preparation and
mailing of a tax return when the Commissioner’s records do not
show receipt of a return and the taxpayer cannot provide any
documentary evidence of the filing of such return. See
Sorrentino v. IRS, 383 F.3d 1187, 1193-1194 (10th Cir. 2004);
Estate of Wood v. Commissioner, 92 T.C. 793, 796-798 (1989)
(testimony of postal employee who affixed postmark to return),
affd. 909 F.2d 1155 (8th Cir. 1990); Mitchell Offset Plate Serv.,
Inc. v. Commissioner, 53 T.C. 235, 239-240 (1969) (testimony of
corporation’s shareholders and its accountants). However, a
taxpayer’s own testimony concerning his or her habit regarding
the preparation and mailing of his or her returns is not
sufficient by itself. See Longazel v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.
1994-487; Duralia v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1994-269.
Based on the entirety of the record, petitioner’s testimony
does not establish that he filed his return on September 3, 1999.
Moreover, the fact that petitioner also did not file his
individual Colorado State income tax return until July 2, 2003,
suggests that he filed both his Federal and State income tax
returns at about the same time. We thus conclude that petitioner
failed to carry his burden of proving that he filed his return on
September 3, 1999. Rather, based on the evidence adduced, we
hold that petitioner filed his 1998 return on July 10, 2003.
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