Angela C. Morris - Page 5




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          petitioner’s withholding credits, and the imposition of the                 
          section 72(t) additional tax of $382.  For 1997, respondent’s               
          adjustments resulted in a net increase of $8,277.50 in                      
          petitioner’s income, a net decrease of $470 in petitioner’s                 
          deductions, a $144 decrease in petitioner’s withholding credits,            
          and the imposition of the section 72(t) additional tax of $1,283.           
               Petitioner timely filed a Form 8857, Request for Innocent              
          Spouse Relief, seeking equitable relief from liability under the            
          provisions of section 66(c).  Respondent determined that                    
          petitioner was not entitled to equitable relief under section               
          66(c).                                                                      
                                     Discussion                                       
          1. IRA Distributions and Petitioner’s Gross Income                          
               Spouses domiciled in Louisiana are subject to a community              
          property regime.  La. Civ. Code Ann. arts. 2327, 2334 (West                 
          1985).  Spouses may opt out of the community property regime by             
          entering into a matrimonial agreement to that effect.  La. Civ.             
          Code Ann. art. 2329 (West 1985).  There was no such agreement               
          between petitioner and Mr. Morris.  The first issue is whether,             
          under these circumstances, portions of the distributions from Mr.           
          Morris’s IRA to him are included in petitioner’s income as                  
          community property income.2                                                 


               2  The facts are not in dispute and the issue is primarily             
          one of law.  Sec. 7491, concerning burden of proof, has no                  
          bearing on this issue.                                                      




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