- 3 -
There is no issue or claim that petitioner did not support the
child for the year 2001 in accordance with the court decree.
Prior to filing his joint Federal income tax return for 2001 with
his current spouse, petitioner contacted his former spouse to
obtain her consent on Form 8332, Release of Claim to Exemption
for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents, in order to enable
him and his current spouse (a petitioner herein) to claim the
dependency exemption for the child. Petitioner’s former spouse
refused to sign the Form 8332. Petitioners, accordingly, filed
their joint return for 2001 and claimed the child as a dependent.
Petitioners attached to their return an unsigned Form 8332 and
also attached the pertinent page or pages of the court’s decree
quoted above regarding petitioner’s entitlement to the dependency
exemption deduction for the child. Respondent disallowed the
claimed dependency exemption on the ground that petitioners “did
not establish” that they were entitled to the deduction.
Generally, the determinations of the Commissioner in a
notice of deficiency are presumed correct, and the burden of
proof is on the taxpayer to prove that the determinations are in
error. Rule 142(a); Welch v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 111 (1933).2
2Since the issue in this case is legal in nature, sec. 7491,
which in some circumstances shifts the burden of proof to
respondent, is not applicable here.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011