Opinion ID: 2967728
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Count 14: Linda Macklin

Text: Linda Macklin, Hayes’ sister-in-law, testified that Hayes prepared her tax returns for 1996 and 1997. On her 1996 return, Hayes included a medical expense of over $13,000. Macklin told the grand jury that she had incurred more than $14,000 in medical bills in 1996, when her daughter was born. On this basis, Hayes asserts that the deduction noted on Macklin’s return was not fraudulent. This argument fails because Macklin testified that she never discussed her medical bills with Hayes. Also, it appears that Macklin never claimed to have paid these bills herself; instead, she testified that they were paid by her insurance, which rendered them nondeductible, see 26 U.S.C.A. § 213(a) (West 2002). The jury could reasonably infer from these circumstances that Macklin did not provide Hayes with the $13,000 figure listed on her tax return and that Hayes may instead have invented this number. Moreover, while the $13,000 deduction noted by Hayes was close to Macklin’s actual expenses, this figure also resembles false medical deductions claimed by Hayes in other returns he prepared.