- 8 - We review respondent’s denial of equitable relief after a trial de novo and under an abuse of discretion standard. Ewing v. Commissioner, 122 T.C. at 35-44; Butler v. Commissioner, supra. Petitioner bears the burden of proving that respondent’s denial of her request for section 6015(f) relief is an abuse of discretion. See Rule 142(a); Washington v. Commissioner, supra at 146; Jonson v. Commissioner, 118 T.C. 106, 125 (2002), affd. 353 F.3d 1181 (10th Cir. 2003). Petitioner must demonstrate that respondent exercised his discretion arbitrarily, capriciously, or without sound basis in fact or law. See Jonson v. Commissioner, supra; Cheshire v. Commissioner, 115 T.C. 183, 198 (2000), affd. 282 F.3d 326 (5th Cir. 2002). The Court’s review is not limited to respondent’s administrative record. Ewing v. Commissioner, supra at 44. As required by section 6015(f), the Commissioner has prescribed procedures and factors IRS employees use to determine whether a spouse qualifies for relief under that section. At the time that petitioner requested relief under section 6015(f), those procedures were set forth in Rev. Proc. 2000-15, 2000-1 C.B. 447. (Subsequent modification of these procedures by Rev. Proc. 2003-61, 2003-2 C.B. 296, does not affect the resolution of this case.) Certain threshold conditions must be satisfied before the Commissioner will consider a request for relief under sectionPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011