- 5 - of [sic] the taxpayer wife’s inadequate withholding. Undue hardship—No known hardship. * * * * * * * Marital abuse—None known. Spouse’s legal obligation to pay—Divorce decree was read over the telephone to Agent. No mention of Internal Revenue Service debt made. Knowledge/reason to know–Understatement [sic] was evident at the signing of the joint return. Taxpayer husband would have had knowledge/reason to know of the understatement [sic] at the time of signing. Taxpayer husband states he does not remember signing the return. States he would have paid if he had known of the understatement [sic] and cites his paying back taxes for 1995 and 1996 promptly as example. Significant benefit--No known beyond normal support. Petitioner timely filed his petition on January 3, 2000. OPINION We must decide whether respondent abused his discretion in denying relief under section 6015(f) with respect to an amount of tax reported on petitioner’s joint return but not paid. We review respondent’s determination for abuse of discretion, Butler v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 276 (2000), and we hold that respondent abused his discretion because respondent’s determination was arbitrary. Section 6015(f) provides as follows: Equitable Relief.--Under procedures prescribed by the Secretary, if-- (1) taking into account all the factsPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Next
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