Lawrence Jay Russ - Page 15




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          transportation.5  Housing standards are established for each                
          county within a State.  Transportation standards include not only           
          ownership costs based on nationwide figures for loan or lease               
          payments but also operating costs determined by census region and           
          metropolitan area.  IRM pt. 5.15.1.7(4) (2004).  A taxpayer                 
          seeking a deviation from the expense standards must substantiate            
          that he has necessary expenses exceeding the standards and that             
          those expenses are reasonable.  IRM pt. 5.8.5.5.1.2 (2005).                 
          Petitioner failed to document or otherwise substantiate that he             
          has such reasonable and necessary expenses in excess of the                 
          standards.  We hold that his generalized assertion is                       
          insufficient to require a deviation.6                                       




               5 National standards combine five necessary expenses:  Four            
          from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey,            
          namely food, housekeeping supplies, apparel and services, and               
          personal care products and services; and a discretionary amount,            
          categorized as miscellaneous, established by the Internal Revenue           
          Service.  IRM pt. 5.15.1.7(3) (2004).                                       
               6 Petitioner explains that his unemployment was the major              
          cause of his unpaid taxes.  However, the Court notes that the               
          only period of unemployment reflected in the record occurred                
          between approximately August 2001 and April 2002; yet most of               
          petitioner’s tax liability, more than 70 percent, results from              
          unpaid taxes for tax years 1998, 1999, and 2000.  See Table 1,              
          supra p. 4.  Petitioner has also not indicated that he                      
          anticipates future unemployment.  Petitioner is an engineer                 
          working in the high-tech industry, as opposed to a seasonal                 
          worker subject to regular lay-offs, for example.  On the record             
          before the Court, we conclude that petitioner has not                       
          demonstrated a history of unemployment sufficient to require a              
          deviation from the reasonable collection potential formula.                 





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