- 14 - Memo. 1998-33; see also Malinowski v. Commissioner, 71 T.C. 1120, 1125 (1979). Petitioners did not introduce any documents and offered only vague testimony regarding these claimed expenses. Many of the claimed travel expenses involved Mr. Vigil’s driving in his personal automobile to Indian reservations in various States. He traveled with family; namely, Mrs. Vigil and one or more of their adult children. Petitioners testified that they maintained a list of locations where Mr. Vigil ministered and of the mileage driven and that they used credit cards for business expenses and kept the receipts. They further explained that, at the time the 2001 return was prepared in 2004, they provided those documents to their C.P.A. but did not retain copies. Petitioners’ C.P.A. at the time of the preparation of the Form 4361 and the audit of their 1994 tax return developed a drug problem and later died. Their C.P.A.’s wife took over the accounting business and prepared petitioners’ 2001 return in 2004. However, petitioners testified credibly that she too has developed a drug habit, that they have been unable to retrieve their documents from her, and that even the sheriff was unable to serve her with a subpoena to appear and testify at trial. Although they tried, petitioners were also unable to retrieve documents from their credit card companies to reconstruct or substantiate their 2001 expenses.Page: Previous 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 NextLast modified: March 27, 2008