-9- to be owing by conduct intended to conceal, mislead, or otherwise prevent the collection of taxes. Parks v. Commissioner, 94 T.C. 654, 661 (1990). The Commissioner may not simply rely upon the taxpayer's failure to show error in the determinations of the deficiencies. DiLeo v. Commissioner, 96 T.C. 858, 873 (1991), affd. 959 F.2d 16 (2d Cir. 1992). Furthermore, the mere failure to report income is not sufficient to establish fraud, Merritt v. Commissioner, 301 F.2d 484, 487 (5th Cir. 1962), affg. T.C. Memo. 1959-172, but a pattern of consistent underreporting of income, especially when accompanied by other circumstances showing an intent to conceal, may justify the inference of fraud, Holland v. United States, 348 U.S. 121, 139 (1954); Parks v. Commissioner, supra at 664. However, where there is no evidence of fraudulent intent, such as falsification, concealment, or deception, the Commissioner has not carried his burden. Kotmair v. Commissioner, 86 T.C. 1253, 1260 (1986). After considering petitioner’s testimony as a whole, we find that petitioner lacked the requisite fraudulent intent at the times he was required to file returns for 1999 through 2003. As respondent points out, petitioner failed to file returns for 1999 through 2003, did not make estimated tax payments for those years, and was not particularly cooperative with respondent, and these are “badges of fraud” from which we may infer fraudulent intent. Bradford v. Commissioner, 796 F.2d 303, 307 (9th Cir.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: March 27, 2008