Lois E. Ordlock - Page 18

                                        - 18 -                                        
          out of community assets.  See McIntyre v. United States, 222 F.3d           
          655 (9th Cir. 2000); see also sec. 6321.  However, under                    
          petitioner’s section 6015 argument, if married spouses filed                
          jointly, the Government could not collect out of community assets           
          without some tracing mechanism when one spouse receives section             
          6015 relief.  Without Congress’s explicit rationale or statement            
          of such an intent, we find this result to be inconsistent.                  
               B.   Disregarding Community Property Laws in the Context of            
                    Section 6015(g) Would Create Potential Abuse                      
               We must avoid an interpretation of section 6015(g) that                
          would create a potential for abuse by allowing community property           
          laws to be disregarded during the collection process.  Because              
          section 6015 relief is often granted many years after the taxable           
          year at issue, the timespan offers an opportunity to change the             
          source of the payments that are otherwise community property.  In           
          an effort to avoid paying tax liabilities, married taxpayers in             
          community property States could structure future payments so that           
          ownership is attributable to the spouse requesting relief under             
          section 6015, while continuing a jointly financed lifestyle.                
              C.   Did Congress Leave Open the Question of How To Divide             
                    Property Between Spouses for Collection Purposes?                 
               As stated previously, another problem with petitioner’s                
          position is the lack of legislative direction regarding how to              
          divide the assets between spouses in community property States              
          for collection purposes.  If we adopt petitioner’s interpretation           






Page:  Previous  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26  27  Next

Last modified: May 25, 2011