Edwina Diane Campbell - Page 4

                                        - 4 -                                         
                                     Discussion                                       
               An election pursuant to section 6015(b), (c), or (f) must be           
          made within 2 years of respondent’s first collection activity               
          taken after July 22, 1998, against the individual making the                
          election.2  Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act           
          of 1998, Pub. L. 105-206, sec. 3201(g)(2), 112 Stat. 740; sec.              
          6015(b)(1)(E), (c)(3)(B); Rev. Proc. 2000-15, sec. 5, 2000-1 C.B.           
          447, 449.                                                                   
               Petitioner contends that respondent’s offset of her                    
          overpayment is not, pursuant to section 6015, a collection                  
          activity.  We disagree.  The offset of an overpayment is by its             
          plain and ordinary meaning a collection activity pursuant to                
          section 6015.  See Perrin v. United States, 444 U.S. 37, 42                 
          (1979) (stating that “A fundamental canon of statutory                      
          construction is that, unless otherwise defined, words will be               
          interpreted as taking their ordinary, contemporary, common                  
          meaning”); Trent v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2002-285 (stating              
          that nonlevy collection actions include “offsetting overpayments            

               2  On July 18, 2002, the Commissioner published final                  
          regulations, pursuant to section 6015, that define a collection             
          activity to include “an offset of an overpayment of the                     
          requesting spouse against a liability under section 6402”.  Sec.            
          1.6015-5(b)(2)(i), Income Tax Regs.  These regulations are                  
          applicable to all requests for relief from joint and several                
          liability filed on or after July 18, 2002, and, thus, not                   
          applicable to petitioner's request, which was filed before that             
          date.  Sec. 1.6015-9, Income Tax Regs.                                      






Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  Next

Last modified: May 25, 2011