Gwendolyn A. Ewing - Page 9




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          under section 6015(f) where a claim for relief from joint and               
          several liability was raised as an affirmative defense in a                 
          petition for redetermination of a deficiency filed pursuant to              
          section 6213(a).  We interpreted the term “under this section” in           
          section 6015(e)(1)(A) to include all subsections of section 6015.           
          Butler v. Commissioner, supra at 289-290.  We found nothing in              
          section 6015(e) that precluded our review of the Commissioner’s             
          denial of equitable relief pursuant to section 6015(f) where the            
          taxpayer makes an election for relief pursuant to section 6015(b)           
          or (c).  Id.  Additionally, we rejected the Commissioner’s                  
          argument that his authority to grant equitable relief is                    
          committed to agency discretion because we found that the                    
          circumstances allowing action to be committed solely to agency              
          discretion were not present.  Id. at 291.                                   
               In Fernandez v. Commissioner, supra, we addressed the issue            
          of whether we have authority to review a denial of relief under             
          section 6015(f) where a “stand alone” petition is filed pursuant            
          to section 6015(e).  We described section 6015(f) as follows:               
                    Section 6015(f) provides that the Commissioner may                
               relieve an individual of liability if, taking into                     
               account all the facts and circumstances, it is                         
               inequitable to hold the individual liable for any                      
               unpaid tax or deficiency (or portion thereof) * * *                    
               [Id. at 332; emphasis added.]                                          
          As we did in Butler v. Commissioner, supra, we expressed the view           
          that Congress intended the term “under this section” in section             







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