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the aggregate. This addition to tax is applicable unless the
taxpayer can demonstrate that the failure is due to a reasonable
cause and not due to willful neglect.
Petitioner agrees that the 1998 return was not timely.
Nevertheless, she argues against the application of the addition
to tax because it was “intervenor and his personal accountant
that prepared the 1998 return untimely”. Petitioner’s position
in this regard ignores much of the undisputed evidence placed in
the record on this point, especially a joint exhibit that
establishes that the return was untimely because petitioner’s
divorce attorney misplaced the return in the divorce proceeding’s
discovery file. Respondent has sustained his burden of
production with respect to the imposition of the addition to tax.
Petitioner has failed to establish that the failure to file the
return on a timely basis was due to reasonable cause and not
willful neglect. See United States v. Boyle, 469 U.S. 241 (1985)
(taxpayers have a personal and nondelegable duty to file a timely
return, and reliance on a professional to file a return does not
provide reasonable cause for an untimely filing). Respondent’s
imposition of the section 6651(a) addition to tax is sustained.
2. Section 6662(a) Penalty
Section 6662(a) imposes an accuracy-related penalty of 20
percent of any portion of an underpayment of tax that is
attributable to a substantial understatement of income tax. Sec.
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