- 7 -
However, in order for the Court to estimate the amount of an
expense, the Court must have some basis upon which an estimate
may be made. Vanicek v. Commissioner, 85 T.C. 731, 742-743
(1985). Without such a basis, any allowance would amount to
unguided largesse. Williams v. United States, 245 F.2d 559, 560-
561 (5th Cir. 1957). With these well-established propositions in
mind, we must determine whether petitioner has satisfied his
burden of proving that he is entitled to the claimed gambling
loss deductions mentioned above.
In order to establish entitlement to a deduction for
wagering losses in this Court, the taxpayer must prove the losses
sustained during the taxable year. Mack v. Commissioner, 429
F.2d 182 (6th Cir. 1970), affg. T.C. Memo. 1969-26; Stein v.
Commissioner, 322 F.2d 78 (5th Cir. 1963), affg. T.C. Memo. 1962-
19. The taxpayer must also prove that the amount of wagering
losses claimed as a deduction exceeds the amount of the
taxpayer’s gains from wagering transactions. Sec. 165(d).
Implicitly, this requires the taxpayer to prove both the amount
of losses and the amount of winnings. Schooler v. Commissioner,
68 T.C. 867, 869 (1977); Donovan v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.
1965-247, affd. per curiam 359 F.2d 64 (1st Cir. 1966).
Otherwise, there would be no way of knowing whether the sum of
the losses deducted on the return is greater or less than the
taxpayer’s winnings. Schooler v. Commissioner, supra at 869.
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