the relevant taxable years, and all Rule references are to the
Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.
The parties submitted memoranda and affidavits in support of
their positions. Neither party requested a hearing. We decide
the motion based on the pleadings, petitioners' motion for
litigation costs, respondent's objection to that motion, the
supporting memoranda and affidavits, and the record in these
cases.
The primary issues in the underlying opinion, Gaskins v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1995-511, filed October 26, 1995, were
whether petitioner Elaine Gaskins and petitioner Sabina A. Quinn
were entitled to relief as innocent spouses under section
6013(e). We held that both petitioner wives were entitled to
such relief. However, the path to that result was long and
winding, with unnecessary obstacles and delays along the way.
Background
On February 8, 1991, respondent mailed notices of deficiency
to petitioners William C. and Elaine Gaskins (the Gaskins) and
Pasquale T. and Sabina A. Quinn (the Quinns), determining
deficiencies in income tax for the taxable years 1979, 1980, and
1981, and determining, against petitioner husbands, additions to
tax for fraud for those years. On May 6, 1991, the Gaskins and
the Quinns, through their attorney, James J. Riley (Attorney
Riley), filed their respective petitions with this Court. Those
petitions assigned as errors the determination of unreported
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