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Respondent’s position is that petitioner did not meet all of
the seven threshold conditions described above, so respondent
denied petitioner relief. In particular, respondent relies on
condition 4 quoted above, which, in part, states that the tax
liability for which relief is sought “remains unpaid”.
Respondent argues that, since the last payment that was applied
to petitioner’s 1987 tax liability was made in November 1999, and
since that payment fully satisfied the 1987 tax liability, there
was no amount that remained “unpaid” at the time petitioner filed
her claim for relief under section 6015 in May 2000.
The Court disagrees with respondent. In Washington v.
Commissioner, 120 T.C. 137 (2003), this Court held that, subject
to the limitations on refunds set forth in sections 6511,
6512(b), 7121, and 7122, section 6015 applies to the full amount
of any pre-existing tax liability for a particular taxable year
if any portion of that liability remains unpaid as of the date of
enactment of section 6015, July 22, 1998, and not just to the
portion of the tax liability remaining unpaid after July 22,
1998. Moreover, neither section 6015 nor Rev. Proc. 2000-15
provides that a spouse is precluded from applying for relief
under section 6015 if the tax liability has been fully satisfied
at the time the application for relief is filed. In petitioner's
case, a portion of her 1987 tax liability did remain unpaid after
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