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levies for the taxable years 1997-99 were filed and very close to
the filing of the notice of Federal tax lien on April 5, 2002.10
Previous cases have upheld the Commissioner’s determination that
the taxpayer did not meet the threshold factors under Rev. Proc.
2000-15, sec. 4.01(6), on the basis of the sequence of events and
the proximity of the transfer to any action on behalf of the IRS.
See, e.g., Ohrman v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2003-301. In
Ohrman, the taxpayers entered into a separation agreement shortly
after the Commissioner proposed adjustments to their tax
liability. The result of the separation agreement was the
transfer of assets from the taxpayer’s husband to her. The
husband, however, continued to pay all of the expenses, and the
taxpayer continued to engage in a marital relationship with her
husband. The Commissioner concluded that the transfer of assets
between the taxpayers was an effort to shield those assets from
the Commissioner’s attempt to collect the tax liability. The
Commissioner based his conclusion on the proximity of the transfer
to the taxpayer’s learning of the potential liability. Given that
there was no logical reason for the transfer that could be
substantiated and that the transfer was proximate to the inception
of the taxpayer’s knowledge of the liability for the taxable years
10We determined, on the basis of petitioners’ sworn
statements, that the boat and the car were transferred sometime
between Mar. 28, 2001, and Jan. 1, 2003. The notice of Federal
tax lien for the taxable year 2000 was filed on Apr. 5, 2002.
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