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When spouses file a joint return, the tax is computed on
their aggregate income, and their liability for the tax is joint
and several. Sec. 6013(d)(3). A taxpayer's liability on a joint
return depends on the taxpayer's voluntary execution of the
return. Stanley v. Commissioner, 45 T.C. 555, 560 (1966). A
taxpayer who signs a return under duress has not voluntarily
executed the return and will not be held liable for the tax shown
due thereon, or for any tax deficiency for the year in question
that is attributable to the other spouse. Stanley v.
Commissioner, 81 T.C. 634, 637-638 (1983).
We have stated that duress is determined "under a uniform
standard unaffected by the idiosyncracies of particular State
law" and implied that we would develop an independent Federal
standard. Brown v. Commissioner, 51 T.C. at 119-120. However,
the cases that we cited support this conclusion only to a limited
extent,5 and recent
opinions of the Supreme Court seem to indicate that we should
5We said that the Court of Appeals in Furnish v.
Commissioner, 262 F.2d 727, 733 (9th Cir. 1958), affg. in part
and remanding in part on this issue Funk v. Commissioner, 29 T.C.
279 (1957), "[formulated] a standard of duress applicable in
Federal tax controversies", but it would appear that court was
rather clearly applying the California law of duress. The other
case cited in Brown v. Commissioner, 51 T.C. 116 (1968), in
support of our statement was Stanley v. Commissioner, 45 T.C. 555
(1966); while that case did support a nationwide uniform standard
of duress for the purpose of determining the validity of a
Federal income tax return as a joint return, id. at 561-562, it
expressly denied that it was establishing a Federal common law of
duress, id. at 562 n.12.
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