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of Arizona in determining the deficiency in income tax against
petitioner.
Section 66(b) authorizes the Commissioner to disallow the
benefits of any community property law to a taxpayer with respect
to any income if (1) the taxpayer acted as if solely entitled to
such income and (2) the taxpayer failed to notify the taxpayer's
spouse (before the due date for filing the return for the taxable
year in which the income was earned) of the nature and amount of
such income.
At trial, respondent was unable to offer any persuasive
reason why respondent was authorized to disregard the community
property laws of the State of Arizona. Petitioner did not act as
if she were solely entitled to her wage income, and she did not
fail to notify Mr. Mischel of such income. Indeed, petitioner's
wages provided the support for petitioner and her family, and
petitioner's wages were part of the computation on the Form
1040A, which was prepared by (or at the direction of) Mr.
Mischel.
Arizona law provides that the wages of a spouse represent
community property and that each spouse has an equal one-half
interest in those earnings. Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. sec. 25-211
(West 1976); Goodell v. Koch, 282 U.S. 118 (1930). Accordingly,
each spouse must report one-half of such income when a separate
income tax return is filed. United States v. Mitchell, 403 U.S.
190, 198 (1971).
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