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The taxpayer presented no other relevant
information and did not provide any
collection alternative. No financial
information was provided.
Negoescu filed her petition seeking review in July 2003, and
did not fill out the IRS questionnaire until October. She also
provided other evidence at the trial, which was held in Alaska,
where she resided when she filed her petition.
Discussion
Married couples may choose to file their Federal tax returns
jointly. Sec. 6013(a). If they do, both are responsible for the
accuracy of the return and both are liable for the entire tax
due. Sec. 6013(d)(3); Butler v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 276, 282
(2000).
In some cases, however, section 6015 can provide relief from
that liability. Under section 6015(b), a spouse may seek either
full or partial relief; under section 6015(c), the tax liability
can be split between two former or separated spouses. Both these
provisions, however, require that the liability in question arise
from a “deficiency,” which means that a couple underreported
their taxes. In this case, the Commissioner agrees that the
Supplees correctly filled out their tax returns for both 1991 and
1992, so there is no deficiency.
That means that Negoescu is in what’s called an
“underpayment situation”--there’s no dispute over how much tax
she and her ex-husband owe, only about who has to pay it. When
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