- 23 -
OPINION
Section 6013(a) permits a husband and wife to elect to file
a joint tax return. Together with section 1(a), this joint tax
return option is a valuable privilege, which ordinarily operates
to lower the tax liability for the income reported on the tax
return. The price taxpayers must pay for this benefit is joint
and several liability. Sec. 6013(d)(3); Stevens v. Commissioner,
872 F.2d 1499, 1503 (11th Cir. 1989), affg. T.C. Memo. 1988-63;
Murphy v. Commissioner, 103 T.C. 111, 117 (1994); Bokum v.
Commissioner, 94 T.C. 126, 151-152 (1990), affd. 992 F.2d 1132
(11th Cir. 1993); Pesch v. Commissioner, 78 T.C. 100, 129-130
(1982).
Under section 6013(e),5 however, a spouse may be relieved of
5 Sec. 6013(e) provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
SEC. 6013. JOINT RETURNS OF INCOME TAX BY HUSBAND AND
WIFE.
* * * * * * *
(e) Spouse Relieved of Lability in Certain Cases.--
(1) In general.-- Under regulations prescribed by
the Secretary, if--
(A) a joint return has been made under this
section for a taxable year,
(B) on such return there is a substantial
understatement of tax attributable to grossly
erroneous items of one spouse,
(C) the other spouse establishes that in
signing the return he or she did not know, and had
no reason to know, that there was such substantial
understatement, and
(continued...)
Page: Previous 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011