- 15 -
of the capital gains, mortgage interest, and charitable
contributions allocable to Mr. Rowe. Thus, petitioner did not
prevail on the issue of whether she was entitled to relief under
section 6015(b) for these items, and we find that respondent’s
position was substantially justified.10
2. Section 6015(c)
Section 6015(c) provides relief from joint liability for
spouses either no longer married, legally separated, or living
apart. Generally, this avenue of relief allows a spouse to elect
to be treated, for purposes of determining tax liability, as if
separate returns had been filed. The electing spouse must first
establish the portion of any deficiency allocable to her. Sec.
6015(c)(2). The electing spouse cannot qualify for relief under
section 6015(c) for the portion which is allocable to her. The
electing spouse may be entitled to relief under section 6015(c)
for the portion which is not allocable to her unless the
Commissioner can demonstrate that she had “actual knowledge”, at
the time she signed the return, of the item giving rise to the
deficiency. Sec. 6015(c)(3)(C).
10In her motion, petitioner also claims that she would have
been entitled to relief for all items under former sec. 6013(e).
However, former sec. 6013(e) also predicated relief on a finding
that the understatement was attributable to an erroneous item
“of” the nonelecting spouse. Former sec. 6013(e)(1)(B); Bokum v.
Commissioner, 94 T.C. 126, 140 (1990), affd. 992 F.2d 1132 (11th
Cir. 1993).
Page: Previous 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011