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income of $2,000 for taxable year 2002, because this
portion of the closing agreement pertains to
nonpartnership items. In contrast W may claim relief
from joint and several liability as to the disallowed
losses and accuracy-related penalty attributable to
Partnership B for taxable year 2002 or any subsequent
year(s). This is because this portion of the closing
agreement pertains to partnership and affected items
and was entered into at a time when W was a party to
the pending partnership-level proceeding regarding
Partnership B. Consequently, W never had the
opportunity to raise the innocent spouse defense in the
course of that TEFRA partnership proceeding. (See �
1.6015-5(b)(5) relating to premature claims).
[Emphasis added.]
We fail to see why the same rationale does not apply to a
closing agreement entered into before the effective date of
section 6015. A spouse who enters into such an agreement
likewise never had the opportunity to raise a claim under section
6015 before, or at the time of, her signing the closing
agreement. Although we recognize that the final regulations were
not effective for purposes of petitioner’s request for relief, we
believe the reason underlying the exceptions in section 1.6015-
1(c)(2) and(e), Income Tax Regs., supports a conclusion that a
closing agreement entered into before the effective date of
section 6015 does not preclude petitioner from asserting relief
under that section.16
16We do not decide in this Opinion the effect of sec. 6015
on a closing agreement entered into after the effective date of
those rules. However, we note that the Secretary has issued
final regulations under sec. 6015 which provide that, in general,
a requesting spouse is not entitled to relief from joint and
several liability for any tax year for which the requesting
(continued...)
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