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deductions for their son, and required Mrs. Brettin to sign a
Form 8332, Release of Claim to Exemption for Child of Divorced or
Separated Parents, annually.2 The agreement did not contain the
child's name or the Social Security number of either petitioner
or Mrs. Brettin.
Petitioner timely filed a Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income
Tax Return, for 2000. On that return, he claimed a dependency
exemption deduction for his son. Mrs. Brettin did not sign a
Form 8332 or a statement conforming to the substance of Form
8332, and petitioner did not attach such documentation to his
Form 1040.
When petitioner attempted to electronically file his tax
return for 2000, he was notified that respondent had received two
or more 1998 Federal individual income tax returns using the same
Social Security number to claim a tax benefit. In a notice of
deficiency dated May 6, 2002, respondent disallowed the
dependency exemption deduction, and the child tax credit
petitioner claimed.
Discussion
The Commissioner's determinations in a notice of deficiency
are presumed correct, and generally, taxpayers bear the burden of
2In the original draft of the agreement, petitioner and Mrs.
Brettin had agreed that Mrs. Brettin would sign Forms 8332 "for
all future years". That language was changed to "on a yearly
basis".
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Last modified: May 25, 2011