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allocation to the responsible party. To be eligible for relief
under section 6015(c), the individual seeking relief must no
longer be married to, or must be legally separated from, the
individual with whom the tax return was filed and must have
elected the applicability of section 6015(c) not later than 2
years after the date on which collection activity began. Sec.
6015(c)(3). Furthermore, relief under section 6015(c) is not
available to a taxpayer if it is shown that the taxpayer had
actual knowledge when signing the return of any “item” giving
rise to a deficiency. Sec. 6015(c)(3)(C).
As previously discussed, petitioner is divorced from Ms.
DeFore. His divorce was finalized before he requested relief
from joint and several liability. Also, he filed a timely Form
8857, Request for Innocent Spouse Relief, to request relief.
Therefore, the last requirement petitioner is required to meet to
be eligible for relief under section 6015(c) is to prove he had
no actual knowledge of the income item leading to the
underpayment.
The Court has concluded that petitioner had reason to know
of Ms. DeFore’s omitted income; however, that does not mean
petitioner actually knew of the omitted income. Charlton v.
Commissioner, 114 T.C. 333 (2000); Martin v. Commissioner, T.C.
Memo. 2000-346. Petitioner testified that he and Ms. DeFore did
not share a bank account. They did not transfer money between
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Last modified: May 25, 2011