- 13 - 112 T.C. 19, 23 (1999); Mailman v. Commissioner, 91 T.C. 1079, 1082-1084 (1988). In the case of a liability that was reported but not paid, the fact that the requesting spouse did not know and had no reason to know that the liability would not be paid is a factor weighing in favor of granting relief. Rev. Proc. 2000-15, sec. 4.03(1)(d), 2000-1 C.B. at 449. By contrast, the fact that the requesting spouse knew or had reason to know that the reported liability would be unpaid is an extremely strong factor weighing against relief. Rev. Proc. 2000-15, sec. 4.03(2)(b), 2000-1 C.B. at 449. Respondent contends that petitioner did not prove that she did not know or did not have reason to know that the unpaid 1994 tax liability would not be paid at the time the return was filed. The taxpayer has a "duty of inquiry" to determine the amount of her tax liabilities. See Price v. Commissioner, 887 F.2d 959, 965 (9th Cir. 1989), revg. an Oral Opinion of this Court; Butler v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 276, 284 (2000). A taxpayer is not relieved of her duty of inquiry because she relied on her husband to take care of the returns. See Hayman v. Commissioner, 992 F.2d 1256, 1262 (2d Cir. 1993), affg. T.C. Memo. 1992-228. A taxpayer can not obtain the benefits of relief from joint and several liability simply because she turned a "blind eye" by signing a blank return and then failed to make further inquiryPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011