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Under section 6061 and section 1.6013-1(a)(2), Income Tax
Regs., a joint tax return must be signed by both spouses unless
one spouse signs as agent of the other. Notwithstanding the
mandatory language of the regulation, a tax return may be a joint
tax return even though the signature of one spouse is missing, if
both spouses intended that the return be a joint tax return. See
Estate of Campbell v. Commissioner, 56 T.C. 1, 12-14 (1971);
Federbush v. Commissioner, 34 T.C. 740, 757-758 (1960), affd. 325
F.2d 1, 2 (2d Cir. 1963); Heim v. Commissioner, 27 T.C. 270, 273
(1956), affd. 251 F.2d 44, 46 (8th Cir. 1958).
The question whether both spouses intended to file a joint
return is one of fact. See Estate of Campbell v. Commissioner,
56 T.C. at 12; Heim v. Commissioner, 27 T.C. at 273, 251 F.2d at
46; Helfrich v. Commissioner, 25 T.C. 404, 407 (1955). The
presence or absence of each spouse’s signature on the return is a
factor to be considered in answering this question, but it is not
conclusive. See Hennen v. Commissioner, 35 T.C. 747, 748 (1961);
Howell v. Commissioner, 10 T.C. 859, 866 (1948), affd. 175 F.2d
240 (6th Cir. 1949).
The following considerations point toward a conclusion that
Mary intended to file a 1994 joint tax return with petitioner at
the time that tax return was filed: For decades, petitioner
prepared and filed joint tax returns for himself and Mary, and
this pattern continued until 1997, even though they had separated
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