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1008. If relief is not available under either section 6015(b) or
(c), an individual may seek equitable relief under section
6015(f), which may be granted by the Commissioner in his
discretion.
In this case, petitioner contends that she is entitled to
full relief from liability under section 6015. Our jurisdiction
to review petitioner’s request for relief is conferred by section
6015(e), which allows a spouse who has requested relief from
joint and several liability to contest the Commissioner’s denial
of relief by filing a timely petition in this Court. We address
petitioner’s request for relief under subsections (b), (c), and
(f) of section 6015 in turn.
A. Section 6015(b)
Section 6015(b) provides a spouse relief from joint
liability for an “understatement” (as defined in section
6662(d)(2)(A)) of tax attributable to erroneous items of the
other spouse.1 With regard to the present case, petitioner does
not seek relief from an understatement of tax but rather from the
tax liabilities reported as due on the 1995, 1997, and 1998
returns that were not paid when the returns were filed. Because
there is no understatement of tax for 1995, 1997, and 1998,
relief is not available to petitioner under section 6015(b). See
1Sec. 6662(d)(2)(A) defines an understatement as the excess
of the amount of tax required to be shown on the return over the
tax imposed which is shown on the return, reduced by any rebate.
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