- 8 -
Reaves v. Commissioner, 31 T.C. 690, 713 (1958), affd. 295 F.2d
336 (5th Cir. 1961); Dixon v. Commissioner, 28 T.C. 338, 346-348
(1957).
Petitioner acknowledges the "traditional general" rule
requiring signatures on tax returns but contends that the
unsigned 1040 Form sent to the IRS for tax year 1995 is a valid
return because both he and his former spouse intended to file a
joint return, and they inadvertently failed to sign the purported
return. Petitioner relies on two arguments: (1) Recent Federal
law has eliminated the manual signature requirement, and (2) the
facts of this case fall within an exception to the general rule
requiring tax returns to be signed.2
2 Petitioner also suggests that the IRS is required to
abide by its initial processing of the purported return as the
joint return of petitioner and Mrs. Olpin. The IRS' processing
of the purported return and its acceptance of petitioner's
payments of the tax liability reflected on the form, however, can
not cure the absence of a signature. See Lucas v. Pilliod Lumber
Co., 281 U.S. 245 (1930)(finding that no IRS officer had the
power to override the requirement that a tax return be signed for
purposes of the statute of limitations); Vaira v. Commissioner,
52 T.C. 986, 1004 (1969), revd. on other issues 444 F.2d 770
(3d Cir. 1971); Smart v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1987-279.
Although there is a case suggesting that the actions of the
IRS may constitute "acceptance" of an unsigned return, the
present case is distinguishable. In Dowell v. Commissioner, 614
F.2d 1263, 1266-1267 (10th Cir. 1980), vacated and remanded 465
U.S. 1001 (1984), the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
determined that the IRS, in relying on unsigned amended tax
returns to convict taxpayers of willfully filing fraudulent
returns and to determine additional taxes due, had "accepted" the
amended returns and could no longer argue that there was no
limitation period for assessment of tax shown on the original
(continued...)
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