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12153 was signed by petitioner under penalties of perjury but was
submitted while the section 6015 regulations still were in
proposed form. While proposed regulations may not be “competent
authority”, see Houston Oil & Minerals Corp. v. Commissioner, 92
T.C. 1331, 1388 (1989), affd. 922 F.2d 283 (5th Cir. 1991); F.W.
Woolworth Co. v. Commissioner, 54 T.C. 1233, 1265-1266 (1970),
here they may be useful as a guide in view of their adoption
approximately a year after petitioner completed his Form 12153.
Under these circumstances, we do not believe it is necessary or
appropriate for us to ignore the proposed regulations.
In the absence of contrary authority defining an election
for section 6015(c) purposes, under the circumstances here, we
may consider petitioner’s statement on the Form 12153 as a valid
election if it sufficiently communicates the elements required
for relief under section 6015(c).
On the Form 12153, petitioner clearly stated that he was
seeking to separate joint and several liability on his 1997 joint
return. The statement informed the Appeals officer that the
Thorpes were legally separated and provided Mrs. Thorpe’s Social
Security number and new address to allow the Appeals officer to
notify Mrs. Thorpe of her right to join the CDP hearing and
intervene in petitioner’s section 6015(c) claim. Petitioner did
2(...continued)
12, 2002, requiring that “the income tax debt shall be split
equally between the parties”.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011