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that is, petitioner also gave her his Forms W-2 for those years
based on her assumption of responsibility for filing, and the
Forms subsequently were found in the trunk of her car after the
delinquencies had been discovered. Given that Ms. Wiest engaged
in deception with respect to filing returns for 1995 and 1996,
there is reason to believe that she engaged in deception with
respect to 1994 as well. We conclude, based on all the facts and
circumstances, that it was reasonable for petitioner to believe
that Ms. Wiest would pay the liability reported on the 1994
return. Accordingly, he did not have knowledge or reason to know
that the tax would not be paid. To the extent respondent’s
determination to deny relief was based on this factor, it is
unsupported.
B. Attribution
A second factor asserted by petitioner in his request for
relief was that the unpaid liability was entirely attributable to
Ms. Wiest. In his request for relief, petitioner contended that
he was raising five children in 1994 and that consequently his
withholdings were sufficient to cover his share of the 1994 tax.
With respect to this contention, the determination letter
provided:
Agent proportioned the balance due with underpayment.
The breakdown is that the responsibility of the
underpayment is 37% caused by the taxpayer husbands
[sic] inadequate withholding and 63% of [sic] the
taxpayer wife’s inadequate withholding.
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