Federal Tax Research 10th Edition by Steven Gill, Gerald Whittenburg, Roby Sawyers, Debra Sanders, William Raabe

Exercise 44

Your client, Lee Ann Harkness, has been accused of criminal tax fraud. A high-school dropout, she received hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years from Bentley, an elderly gentleman, in exchange for love and companionship. When Bentley died and Harkness was left out of the will, she sued the estate for compensatory payments earned throughout her years of tending to Bentley. The government now accuses Harkness of fraud for failing to file income and self-employment tax returns for the open tax years. Construct a defense on Harkness's behalf.