Garnett E. Thorpe - Page 11

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          8857 but can make a valid election by submitting an equivalent              
          written statement.  These regulations were issued as proposed               
          regulations on January 17, 2001, and section 1.6015-5(a) remained           
          unchanged when the regulations were issued in final form on July            
          17, 2002.  T.D. 9003, 2002-2 C.B. 294.  Section 1.6015-5, Income            
          Tax Regs., applies to elections made on or after July 18, 2002.             
          Sec. 1.6015-9, Income Tax Regs.1                                            
               The only written communication in this record that could be            
          considered an election for separate liability under section                 
          6015(c) is the statement on petitioner’s Form 12153.2  The Form             

               1  In addition to issuing regulations in proposed and final            
          form under sec. 6015, the IRS also provided guidance on the                 
          procedure for electing equitable relief for purposes of sec.                
          6015(f) in Rev. Proc. 2000-15, 2000-1 C.B. 447, effective on Jan.           
          18, 2000.  Rev. Proc. 2000-15, sec. 5, 2000-1 C.B. at 449,                  
          provides:                                                                   
                    A requesting spouse seeking equitable relief under                
               � 6015(f) or 66(c) must file Form 8857, Request for Innocent           
               Spouse Relief (and Separation of Liability, and Equitable              
               Relief), or other similar statement signed under penalties             
               of perjury, within 2 years of the first collection activity            
               against the requesting spouse.  If a requesting spouse has             
               already filed an application for relief under � 6015(b) or             
               � 6015(c), the Service will consider whether equitable                 
               relief under � 6015(f) is appropriate for the portion of the           
               liability for which relief under � 6015(b) or � 6015(c) is             
               not available.  A subsequent filing of a request for                   
               equitable relief under � 6015(f) is not necessary.                     
               2  As noted in the text above, petitioner stated on the Form           
          12153 that “The amount owed should be shared between both                   
          spouses.  We are presently separated (legally) and have filed for           
          a divorce with the State of Georgia where Mrs. Thorpe now resides           
          permanently”.  The statement subsequently was supplemented by a             
          copy of petitioner’s divorce decree from Mrs. Thorpe, dated Mar.            
                                                             (continued...)           





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