Gwendolyn A. Ewing - Page 19




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          time for a taxpayer to submit a request to the Commissioner for             
          relief under section 6015 regarding underreported taxes.10  We              
          conclude that the amendment of section 6015(e) does not preclude            
          our jurisdiction to review the denial of equitable relief under             
          section 6015(f) where a deficiency has not been asserted.                   
               In the instant case, petitioner filed a claim for relief               
          from joint and several liability for an amount of tax correctly             
          shown on the return but not paid with the return.  Because                  
          respondent has not challenged the tax reported on the return, no            
          deficiency has been asserted.  In this situation, petitioner may            
          be entitled to relief under section 6015(f) because subsection              
          (f) applies where “it is inequitable to hold the individual                 
          liable for any unpaid tax or any deficiency”.11  Sec. 6015(f)               
          (emphasis added); Fernandez v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. at 332; H.            


               10Sec. 6015(c)(3)(B) was amended at the same time to provide           
          that the time for electing relief was “after a deficiency for               
          such year is asserted”.  Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001              
          (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001), Pub. L. 106-554, app. G,           
          sec. 313, 114 Stat. 2763A-640.                                              
               11A request for relief from joint and several liability can            
          be made by submitting a Form 8857, Request for Innocent Spouse              
          Relief (And Separation of Liability and Equitable Relief), to the           
          Commissioner.  The instructions accompanying the Form 8857                  
          provide that relief under sec. 6015(f) generally applies only to            
          an underpayment of tax, or part or all of any understatement of             
          tax that does not qualify for both sec. 6015(b) and sec. 6015(c)            
          relief.  An underpayment is defined as “tax that is properly                
          shown on your return but [which] has not been paid.”  An                    
          understatement of tax, or deficiency, is defined as “the                    
          difference between the total amount of tax that the IRS                     
          determines should have been shown on the return, and the amount             
          that actually was shown on the return.”                                     





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