Mitchell S. Wiest - Page 5




                                        - 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 facts                        





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