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before November 2003. Although he testified that he timely filed
his return for 2000 in March of 2001, petitioner offered no
certified mail receipt or other evidence to corroborate his
testimony. The parties have stipulated to “a true and complete
copy of the tax return submitted by petitioner to respondent for
* * * 2000.” The joint exhibit containing that return, which we
have referred to as the Nov. 10 return, includes a copy of the
front of the wrapper in which the return was mailed to the IRS.
The wrapper bears what appears to be a postmark date of November
6, 2003. The return itself bears a stamp indicating that the IRS
received the return on November 10, 2003. Moreover, respondent’s
records indicate that no return for 2000 was filed for petitioner
until November 10, 2003, when the Nov. 10 return was filed as an
amended return. We have found that petitioner did not mail the
Nov. 10 return before November 2003.
Petitioner must establish reasonable cause in order to
prevail as to the portion of the addition to tax for which he
bears the burden of proof. Petitioner has failed to present any
persuasive evidence establishing that his failure to file that
return timely was due to reasonable cause and was not due to
willful neglect. Respondent, in turn, also has failed to
introduce any evidence establishing the contrary; i.e., that
petitioner’s failure to file timely was not due to reasonable
cause or was due to willful neglect. We sustain respondent’s
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