- 14 - must demonstrate, at a minimum, that they fulfilled a “duty of inquiry” with respect to determining whether their correct tax liability was reported on the return for the year for which they seek relief. Stevens v. Commissioner, 872 F.2d 1499, 1505 (11th Cir. 1989), affg. T.C. Memo. 1988-63; Butler v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. at 284. When taxpayers fail to fulfill their duty of inquiry, they are ordinarily charged with constructive knowledge of any understatements on their returns. See Hayman v. Commissioner, 992 F.2d 1256, 1262 (2d Cir. 1993), affg. T.C. Memo. 1992-228; Crowley v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1995-551, affd. without published opinion sub nom. Cockrell v. Commissioner, 116 F.3d 1472 (2d Cir. 1997); Cohen v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1987-537 (the provisions providing relief from joint and several liability are “designed to protect the innocent, not the intentionally ignorant”). Petitioner has not satisfied his burden here. Further, petitioner has not satisfied the requirement of section 6015(b)(1)(B) because he cannot show that the understatement of tax is attributable to an erroneous item of one of the individuals filing the joint return. As previously discussed, the understatement of tax is attributable to petitioner and Ms. Glenn’s omission of the additional tax under section 72(t).Page: Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011