Michele D. Livingston - Page 12




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          including the credibility of the spouse seeking relief.  See                  
          Estate of Sell v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1993-325; Brailsford               
          v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1991-639.  Because the burden is on               
          the taxpayer to establish entitlement to relief from joint                    
          liability, see Adams v. Commissioner, 60 T.C. 300, 303 (1973),                
          respondent does not act unreasonably in requiring better proof                
          than mere assertions of entitlement to relief without independent             
          corroboration, see Sliwa v. Commissioner, 839 F.2d 602, 608 (9th              
          Cir. 1988).                                                                   
               The limited information available to respondent’s Appeals                
          officer and district counsel when the notice of deficiency was                
          issued and when the answer was filed included information that                
          petitioner had failed to cooperate with requests for information,             
          that petitioner’s and Theron’s expenses were greater than the                 
          income reported on their 1990 return, that petitioner was living              
          in the house where drugs were discovered upon Theron’s arrest in              
          1991, and that petitioner remained married to Theron.  On the                 
          basis of this information, respondent would have been reasonable              
          in concluding that petitioner may have known or have had reason               
          to know of the unreported income, and thus would not be entitled              
          to relief from joint liability under former section 6013(e).                  
          Indeed, even after submission of all the evidence by both parties             
          at trial, it was not a foregone conclusion that respondent’s                  
          asserted deficiency for 1990 would not be sustained–-a                        






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