- 6 -
taxpayer may not be entitled to relief under section 6015(c) if
the Secretary demonstrates that the taxpayer making the election
"had actual knowledge, at the time such individual signed the
return, of any item giving rise to a deficiency (or portion
thereof) which is not allocable to such individual under
subsection (d)". Sec. 6015(c)(3)(C).
Thus, as pertinent here, petitioner may not be relieved from
joint and several liability under section 6015(b) to the extent
petitioner had actual knowledge, or reason to know, that there
were taxable distributions from Ms. Chester's retirement account
that were omitted from the 1996 joint return. Further,
petitioner may not be relieved from joint and several liability
under section 6015(c) to the extent petitioner had actual
knowledge of the distributions from Ms. Chester's retirement
account.4
In this regard, petitioner testified that he was not aware
that Ms. Chester withdrew any funds from her retirement account
and was not aware that such amounts were improperly omitted from
his and Ms. Chester's joint return for 1996. However, petitioner
did not produce any evidence other than his own self-serving
testimony. In contrast, respondent presented the testimony of
4 Petitioner failed to indicate whether he seeks relief
under sec. 6015(b) or (c). We therefore consider whether
petitioner is entitled to relief under either subsection.
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011