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equitable relief under section 6015(f) is subject to the same
standards for the application of the doctrine of res judicata
that Congress imposed under section 6015(g)(2) with respect to
claims for relief under section 6015(b) and (c).4
There is no dispute that the traditional prerequisites for
the application of the doctrine of res judicata are present in
these cases. As previously mentioned, petitioners were parties
to the District Court collection action brought by the Government
to reduce to judgment petitioners’ unpaid assessments for the
taxable years 1981, 1990, and 1992. The District Court is a
court of competent jurisdiction with regard to such collection
actions. Sec. 7402. The District Court collection action was
initiated on January 7, 2000, well after the July 22, 1998,
effective date of section 6015. Thus, petitioners could have
(but did not) raise their claims for relief from joint and
several liability under section 6015 as a defense in the District
Court collection action. Cf. United States v. Shanbaum, 10 F.3d
305, 313-314 (5th Cir. 1994). The District Court’s decision
granting the Government’s Motion for Summary Judgment, a decision
4 For the sake of completeness, we note that the Secretary
published regulations, applicable to all elections or requests
for relief filed on or after July 18, 2002, in which the
Secretary appears to take the position that claims for equitable
relief under sec. 6015(f) are subject to the application of the
doctrine of res judicata under sec. 6015(g)(2). See secs.
1.6015-1(e), (h)(1) and 1.6015-4, Income Tax Regs., 67 Fed. Reg.
47285, 47286 (July 18, 2002).
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