Zenobia Elisia Clary Ziegler - Page 8

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          she could request relief under section 6015(f) only if she had              
          filed a joint return for 1998, petitioner, through her counsel,             
          did not clearly state during trial that she conceded the joint              
          return issue.  However, we shall assume, for purposes of our                
          analysis, that petitioner has effectively conceded that she filed           
          or ratified the filing of a joint return for 1998 because she               
          continues to assert she is entitled to relief under section                 
          6015(f).4                                                                   
               Our jurisdiction to review petitioner’s claim for relief is            
          conferred by section 6015(e).  This provision allows a spouse who           
          has requested relief from joint and several liability to contest            
          the Commissioner's denial of relief or to contest the                       


               4The failure of one spouse to sign an income tax return                
          before its filing does not necessarily mean that the return is              
          not a joint return.  Heim v. Commissioner, 27 T.C. 270 (1956),              
          affd. 251 F.2d 44 (8th Cir. 1958).  The determinative factor in             
          deciding whether a filed return qualifies as a joint return is              
          whether a husband and wife intended to file a joint return.                 
          Stone v. Commissioner, 22 T.C. 893 (1954).  We have held that               
          where a husband filed a joint return with no objection from his             
          wife, who failed to file her own return, a presumption arises               
          that the joint return was filed with the tacit approval of the              
          wife.  Heim v. Commissioner, supra at 273; see also Carroro v.              
          Commissioner, 29 B.T.A. 646, 650 (1933).                                    
               In this case, petitioner knew that Mr. Ziegler had filed a             
          joint return for 1998 when she saw the refund check issued in               
          both of their names.  She subsequently obtained a copy of the               
          filed return and, knowing that her husband had filed a joint                
          return for 1998, took the joint refund check and deposited it               
          into her husband’s account.  But she made no effort to verify               
          that the joint return included her earned income or to file a               
          separate return reporting her earned income until July 2000 when            
          she started to receive collection notices from respondent for the           
          1998 deficiency assessment.                                                 





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