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that petitioner had substantiation problems with other claimed
deductions. Petitioner failed to comply with repeated requests
from Agent Riley for records, and his actions show no apparent
effort to maintain adequate records from which Agent Davis could
develop an accurate accounting of petitioner’s finances.
3. Failing To File Tax Returns
Petitioner failed to file timely tax returns for 1994
through 2000, and his excuse for not filing timely returns for
the years in issue was that his “intent was to get an
understanding on 1994, 1995 and 1996 and that I would file the
1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 as soon as I could, but that I had [an]
intention of getting those all cleared up this [2003] year.”
Petitioner did not file returns for 1994 through 1996 until May
11, 2000, and did not file returns for 1997 through 2000 until
March or April 2004. In both cases, the tax returns were filed
only after respondent issued statutory notices of deficiency to
petitioner.
In determining fraudulent intent, the Court considers as
relevant a taxpayer’s intelligence, education, and tax expertise.
Iley v. Commissioner, 19 T.C. 631, 635 (1952). While the record
does not indicate that petitioner received any special education
or training in the tax laws, he promoted himself as a business
person skilled in providing seminars on trusts and tax planning.
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