Marilyn Stringham, a.k.a. Marilyn Olsen, Petitioner, and Forrest Bird, Intervenor - Page 8

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          to believe that her reasoning for requesting relief was solely              
          because intervenor would sometimes withdraw money from his IRA              
          and give it directly to his individual children without                     
          consulting her or informing petitioner.                                     
               Although petitioner may not have known the exact amount                
          intervenor withdrew from his IRA during the year at issue, she              
          readily admitted she knew that withdrawals were made and                    
          deposited into their joint bank account.  Petitioner and                    
          intervenor testified that their 2001 Federal income tax return              
          was prepared by a commercial tax preparation service, H&R Block.            
          Both parties signed the return; therefore, petitioner had reason            
          to know that the return she signed contained a substantial                  
          understatement.  Thus, petitioner is not entitled to relief under           
          section 6015(b).                                                            
               The second avenue for relief is section 6015(c).  Section              
          6015(c) affords proportionate relief to the requesting spouse               
          through allocation to the responsible party.  Generally, this               
          avenue of relief allows a spouse to elect to be treated as if a             
          separate return had been filed.  Rowe v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.           
          2001-325.  To be eligible for relief under section 6015(c), the             
          requesting spouse must no longer be married to, or must be                  
          legally separated from, the individual with whom the tax return             
          was filed and must have elected the applicability of section                
          6015(c) not later than 2 years after the date on which collection           






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