- 44 -
those tax liabilities and his serious gambling problem. In
addition, as respondent acknowledges, those liabilities were
solely attributable to Levy, and petitioner and he were separated
at the time she filed her Form 8857. Levy also had a legal
obligation pursuant to their marital settlement agreement to pay
those liabilities. Although petitioner significantly benefited
from the unpaid liabilities and failed to establish that she
would suffer economic hardship if relief from those liabilities
were not granted to her, other important factors favor granting
relief. The factors weighing in favor of granting petitioner
relief for 1991 through 1995 outweigh those weighing against
granting her relief. Based upon our examination of the entire
record before us, we conclude that it would be inequitable to
hold petitioner liable for the 1991 through 1995 tax liabilities.
See Vuxta v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2004-84; Ferrarese v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2002-249.
We further conclude that petitioner has failed to carry her
burden of establishing that respondent abused his discretion in
denying her relief under section 6015(f) for 1996 through 1999.
Among other things, petitioner had reason to know that Levy would
not pay the 1996 through 1999 tax liabilities at the time she
signed the returns for those years. This is an extremely strong
factor weighing against granting her relief for those years.
Rev. Proc. 2000-15, sec. 4.03(2)(b), 2000-1 C.B. at 449; see also
Page: Previous 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011