Yvonne E. Thurner - Page 15

                                       - 15 -                                         
          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).                                               





Page:  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