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exemptions to Ms. Wiest, in the face of petitioner’s claim that
he was providing over half the children’s support. In this
circumstance, respondent’s calculation is arbitrary and without
sound basis in fact, as is his conclusion that the 1994 unpaid
liability is 37 percent (or 40 percent) attributable to
petitioner.
Because respondent’s computation of the share of the unpaid
liability attributable to petitioner was arbitrary, we shall
consider attribution based on the record before us. We believe a
computation of petitioner’s and Ms. Wiest’s respective shares of
the 1994 underpayment is mostly straightforward. Since they each
reported only wage income and jointly claimed the standard
deduction and their two personal exemptions, each spouse’s share
of reported gross income would, in the absence of other factors,
equal his or her share of the total liability. Each spouse’s
withholdings could then be compared with his or her share of the
total liability to derive their respective shares of the
underpayment.
A complicating factor arises with respect to the five
dependency exemptions claimed on the 1994 return. Respondent’s
acceptance of the 1994 return establishes the entitlement of
petitioner and Ms. Wiest, jointly, to five dependency exemptions.
Although petitioner contends that he was providing more than half
the support of the five children claimed as dependents on the
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