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of her income, expenses, assets, or liabilities, nor did she
offer any proof that her ability to sustain herself economically
had been jeopardized by the application of her 2000 income tax
refund to the 1998 liability.
Although petitioner testified that her husband was an
alcoholic and was verbally and emotionally abusive, respondent
points out that, at the time petitioner discovered that her
income had been omitted on the joint return, she was already
separated from her husband. Petitioner failed to file an amended
joint return, and she did not attempt to file a married filing
separate return for 1998 until she received collection notices.
The record establishes that petitioner knew or had reason to
know of the item giving rise to the deficiency because that item
consisted solely of her own income. She had actual knowledge or
reason to know that her income had been omitted when she received
a copy of the 1998 return from H&R Block.
Petitioner’s principal argument focuses on the inequities
of her situation. Petitioner testified that she was misled by
Mr. Ziegler regarding the need to report her earned income on the
1998 joint return that he prepared and filed on their behalf, and
she argues that she did not significantly benefit from the joint
refund issued for 1998. Although it appears from the sparse
record that petitioner was misled by Mr. Ziegler and that she did
not receive or directly benefit from the refund claimed on the
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