PANO ANASTASATO AND JANICE ANASTASATO v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE; Pano Anastasato, Appellant in 85-5728; Janice Anastasato, Appellant in 86-5143, 794 F.2d 884

Summary

Appellant taxpayer challenged a notice of an income tax deficiency. Appellee Commissioner of Internal Revenue alleged that appellant did not report confidential override commissions on airline ticket sales that his travel agency had received. The lower court ruled in appellee's favor. The court vacated and remanded. The court held that appellee established that it was entitled to a presumption that its determination was correct because it had submitted some evidence that an airline had paid the commissions to appellant. However, the lower court incorrectly rejected appellant's testimony on nonreceipt of income as irrelevant once the presumption of correctness arose. This was error because it was possible that appellant could ultimately prevail by proving that fact. The court held that, after the presumption was established, appellant had a right offer rebuttal evidence. Thus, the court remanded the matter for reconsideration. The court held that it was not inconsistent to rule that ...