- 5 -
tax liability and those that relate primarily to the transferee
liability.
As a general rule, the taxpayer bears the burden of proof.
Rule 142(a); Welch v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 111, 115 (1933). In a
transferee liability case, however, respondent must prove all of
the elements of transferee liability except that she does not
have the burden of proving that the transferor was liable for the
tax. Sec. 6902(a); Rule 142(d).
The Decedent's Liability
The tax liability of the decedent arose from a computational
adjustment that reflected the treatment of a partnership item
arising from the decedent's investment in the EXOCO partnership.
To the extent that petitioner would challenge that liability,
this Court lacks jurisdiction. It is well settled that the Court
cannot decide partnership items in a deficiency proceeding
relating to nonpartnership items. See Carmel v. Commissioner, 98
T.C. 265, 267 (1992); Trost v. Commissioner, 95 T.C. 560, 563
(1990); Maxwell v. Commissioner, 87 T.C. 783, 788 (1986).
Congress enacted audit and litigation procedures for certain
partnerships under the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act
of 1982 (TEFRA), Pub. L. 97-248, sec. 402, 96 Stat. 648. TEFRA
created a method for uniformly adjusting items of partnership
income, loss, deduction, or credit that affect each partner. A
partner's tax liability attributable to partnership items is
determined at the partnership level, separate from the
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011