- 2 - OPINION HOLMES, Judge: In 1999, Rosalee Billings began embezzling money from her employer. She kept her husband in the dark about her embezzlement and didn’t report the ill-gotten income on their joint return. After she was caught in 2000, she confessed her theft to him, and together they signed an amended joint return that reported the stolen income and showed a hefty increase in the tax owed. He asked the Commissioner to be relieved of joint liability for the increased tax, but his request was refused because he knew about the embezzled income when he signed the amended return, and also knew that the increased tax shown on that amended return was not going to be paid. Billings began his case in our Court by filing a “nondeficiency stand-alone” petition--“nondeficiency” because the IRS accepted his amended return as filed and asserted no deficiency against him, and “stand-alone” because his claim for innocent spouse relief was made under section 6015 and not as part of a deficiency action or in response to an IRS decision to begin collecting his tax debt through liens or levies. The particular part of section 6015 under which he seeks relief is section 6015(f).1 This subsection is the only one available to spouses against whom the IRS has not asserted a deficiency. In 1 Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code; Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011