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property of the electing spouse and then seek a refund of these
amounts.
D. Complexity/Administrative Difficulty
The majority concludes that “petitioner’s approach would
lead to a very complex factual analysis to trace” the assets used
to make the payments and would lead to “an administrative
nightmare that would severely impede collection”. Majority op.
p. 19.
The fact that tracing may be complex is not a sufficient
reason to disregard the plain language of the statute. Contrary
to the majority’s suggestion that this would burden respondent,
my proposal, supra, is that the burden of proof would be on
petitioner as to this issue (i.e., to prove the economic source
of ownership of the payment).
IV. Conclusion
I believe that the majority gives too little consideration
to the text of section 6015 and instead digresses into policy
matters that are better left to Congress. Additionally, the
majority imposes limitations and distinctions not found in the
statute. Furthermore, the majority narrowly construes the term
“determination”.
We can presume that when Congress enacted section 6015 in
1998 it knew (1) the effects of joint and several liability, (2)
the benefits available to persons who qualify for relief from
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