- 15 - The taxpayer has the burden of proving that he or she meets each of these requirements. Feldman v. Commissioner, 20 F.3d 1128, 1134-1135 (11th Cir. 1994), affg. T.C. Memo. 1993-17; Stevens v. Commissioner, 872 F.2d 1499, 1504 (11th Cir. 1989), affg. T.C. Memo. 1988-63. A failure to prove any one of these requirements will prevent the taxpayer from qualifying for relief. Feldman v. Commissioner, supra; Stevens v. Commissioner; supra; Bokum v. Commissioner, 94 T.C. 126, 138 (1990), affd. 992 F.2d 1132 (11th Cir. 1993). The parties now agree that petitioner filed joint returns with Mr. Womack for 1989 and 1990.6 We now consider the other requirements for innocent spouse relief. Substantial Understatement Attributable to Grossly Erroneous Items of the Other Spouse Items Attributable to Mr. Womack The deficiencies in this case stem from unreported income and disallowed Schedule C expenses. The remaining items in the notice of deficiency either decrease income or, being computational in nature, derive from the above adjustments. The 6 At the calendar call, petitioner filed a motion to dismiss as to taxable year 1990 for lack of jurisdiction or, in the alternative, for leave to file amended petition. In support of this motion, petitioner alleged that petitioner's signature on the 1990 return was forged and that, therefore, the 1990 return was not a joint return. The Court denied the motion for dismissal and granted the motion for leave to file an amended petition to include this alternative. Petitioner has now abandoned this alternative position, acknowledging in her opening brief that the parties agree that joint returns were filed in 1989 and 1990.Page: Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Next
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