Robert Rodriguez - Page 4

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          respondent with any information that would enable respondent to             
          properly determine petitioner’s tax liability.                              
                                       OPINION                                        
          A.  Burden of Proof                                                         
               Generally, respondent’s deficiency determinations set forth            
          in the notices of deficiency are presumed correct, and petitioner           
          bears the burden of showing that the determination is in error.             
          Rule 142(a); Welch v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 111, 115 (1933).  There           
          are exceptions to that Rule.  Section 7491 shifts the burden of             
          proof to respondent if the taxpayer meets certain preliminary               
          conditions.  Here, not only did petitioner fail to cooperate with           
          respondent in any regard, but he did not produce one scintilla of           
          evidence with respect to any matter in this case.  See sec.                 
          7491(a).  Therefore, section 7491(a) does not apply in this case.           
               Another case in which the burden may shift to respondent               
          concerns the determination that there is unreported income.                 
          Under the holdings of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth               
          Circuit (to which an appeal would normally lie for petitioner)              
          respondent is required to build an evidentiary foundation to                
          support a determination of unreported income.  See Weimerskirch             
          v. Commissioner, 596 F.2d 358 (9th Cir. 1979), revg. 67 T.C. 672            
          (1977).  Respondent issued subpoenas to six of petitioner’s                 
          former employers.  At trial, to substantiate the determination              
          that petitioner received the income alleged, respondent provided            






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