- 25 - of 1990. Mr. Strong testified that he made these representations on the advice of his bankruptcy counsel. Mr. Strong’s bankruptcy counsel, Mr. Munns, plainly denied that charge in his testimony. Mr. Munns unequivocally stated that he did not inform Mr. Strong that cash on hand or the value of a corporation did not have to be reported in bankruptcy. Mr. Munns also stated that Mr. Strong failed to inform him that he had a significant amount of cash on hand. In conclusion, we reject Mr. Strong’s cash hoard explanation for the unidentified deposits. Respondent also asserts judicial estoppel as a result of the representations in the bankruptcy filing. Because we reject Mr. Strong’s claims of a cash hoard, it is unnecessary for us to reach this argument. The burden is on SCC to establish that the deposits in dispute were not income. “Once the deposits were shown to be in the nature of income and to exceed what the taxpayers had reported as income, it became the taxpayers’ responsibility to persuade the trier of fact the deposits were nontaxable.” Dodge v. Commissioner, 981 F.2d at 354. In addition to Mr. Strong’s claim of a cash hoard, SCC argues that two of the deposits were not taxable to SCC. The first is a deposit of $8,500 on August 10, 1994, which Mr. Strong claims was payment for the sale of a motorcycle. In that instance, we accept the corroborating testimony of Mr. Strong’s then girlfriend and hold that thePage: Previous 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Next
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