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The overarching general question raised by petitioner’s
contentions is one of timing. The standard suggested by
petitioner on brief highlights this issue: “The test should be
whether the requesting spouse had a reasonable belief that the
taxes would eventually be paid by the non-requesting spouse.”
(Emphasis added.) Petitioner was clearly aware on the dates she
signed the Forms 1040 that no liquid funds were available and on
hand to be submitted with the returns. She knew that the bulk of
Dr. Banderas’s assets were tied up in the bankruptcy; there is no
suggestion that any concrete steps had been taken, or were ever
taken, to try to obtain a distribution from the pension plan; and
Dr. Banderas had not yet returned to gainful employment at the
time of filing the return for 1997 and was deceased at the time
of filing the return for 1999.
It would thus appear that petitioner had not so much a
reasonable belief that the taxes would be paid as an inchoate
hope for a favorable change in circumstances that would, at some
undefined future point in time, place moneys at Dr. Banderas’s or
her own disposal to pay the taxes. Petitioner has at no juncture
made any attempt to identify when, in terms of a particular time
period, she thought the taxes would be paid. Furthermore,
although petitioner has generally alluded to being “told” that
the IRS would be the number one creditor in the bankruptcy and
that the pension plan was exempt, she did not call any witnesses
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