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the joint tax liabilities in full through withholdings from her
salary. Petitioner did not own any part of or have any control
over Mr. Ogonoski’s finances or business.
The legal obligation factor is neutral or inapplicable in
this case because petitioner is not divorced or separated and
there is no agreement between petitioner and Mr. Ogonoski
regarding responsibility for payment of the unpaid liabilities.
The primary reason we deny petitioner relief is that
petitioner knew or had reason to know Mr. Ogonoski would not pay
the reported liabilities when the returns were signed and filed.
Rev. Proc. 2000-15, supra, characterizes this factor as “an
extremely strong factor” weighing against relief.
In order for the no-knowledge-or-reason-to-know factor to be
present, petitioner must establish (1) that at the time she
signed the joint returns for each of the years at issue, she had
no knowledge or reason to know that the tax reported in each of
those returns would not be paid, and (2) that it was reasonable
for her to believe Mr. Ogonoski would pay the tax reported on
each return. See Collier v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2002-144.
Petitioner admitted several times in her petition and brief
that she knew at the times the returns were signed and filed that
the tax liabilities were not being paid on or before the due date
because the “same pattern” of not paying the tax liabilities
reported on the returns “existed in the past”. See, e.g.,
Feldman v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2003-201 (when the 1997
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