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If there were an explanation for the apparent abandonment of
assessment and collection procedures well under way for the
Thompsons’ 1983 taxable year, we would expect respondent to be
able to provide one, but he has not. Therefore, under the burden
of proof approach we have adopted, we hold that the Thompsons’
escape from a $980 deficiency for 1983 was part of the Thompson
settlement, and that this amount should be included in the
denominator for determining the percentage reduction in Kersting
deficiencies to be afforded all affected taxpayers before the
Court.60
4. The Thompsons’ 1983-85 Bauspar
Deductions
The Thompsons, like some other Kersting project
participants, apparently deducted substantial amounts as home
mortgage interest on their 1983-85 returns, on the basis of
payments under the Bauspar program that may not have met the
requirements for deductible home mortgage interest. While
respondent concedes that the Thompsons probably derived a benefit
from overstated Bauspar interest deductions for those years, the
precise amount of that benefit is not readily ascertainable
60The last year for which the Thompsons claimed Kersting
deductions was 1984. As discussed earlier, Revenue Agent Speers
ultimately disallowed the Thompsons’ Kersting deductions for that
year ($7,740) in full, and the Thompsons paid the resulting
deficiency of $1,830.
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