The following excerpt is from Bear v. C.I.R., 19 F.3d 26 (9th Cir. 1994):
The Commissioner will impose a tax penalty for negligence if "any part of any underpayment ... of tax required to be shown on a return is due to negligence (or disregard of rules or regulations)." 26 U.S.C. Sec. 6653(A)(1). For purposes of this section, negligence is the "lack of due care or the failure to do what a reasonable and prudent person would do under similar circumstances." Allen v. CIR, 925 F.2d 348, 353 (9th Cir.1991) (the burden of proving that an underpayment is not the result of negligence is on the taxpayer).
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