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equitable relief; and section 4.03, among other things, lists the
factors that the Secretary will consider in determining whether
he will grant equitable relief in situations where he would not
ordinarily grant it under section 4.02. While the majority does
not disregard the general conditions listed in section 4 of the
revenue procedure, it does not defer to them, treating them,
rather, as suggestions, to be respected to the extent that the
majority agrees with them.
The majority substitutes its standards for the Secretary’s
in at least three ways:
(1) The Secretary does not regard the requesting spouse’s
lack of significant benefit from an unpaid liability as weighing
in favor of relief. The majority does. Majority op. pp. 22-23.
(2) The Secretary does not regard the failure of a
requesting spouse to participate in wrongdoing as weighing in
favor of relief. The majority does. Majority op. p. 25.
(3) The Secretary does not regard the fact of a requesting
spouse’s status as a newlywed as weighing in favor of relief.
The majority does. Majority op. p. 29.
The majority’s standards may be reasonable, but since the
majority has made no finding that the Secretary’s are not, we
should not substitute ours for his. Whatever force the majority
attaches to the abuse of discretion standard under which it
labors, that force is not apparent in the majority’s treatment of
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