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Her sincere hope for payment through eventual receipt of funds
from various contingencies is not sufficiently concrete to fall
within the ambit of a meaningful reasonableness standard.
The third and final element of section 4.02 of Rev. Proc.
2003-61 places a requirement that the requesting spouse will
suffer economic hardship if relief is not granted. Id. sec.
4.02(1)(c), 2003-2 C.B. at 298. For purposes of making the
hardship determination, Rev. Proc. 2003-61, supra, references the
rules in section 301.6343-1(b)(4), Proced. & Admin. Regs. The
cited provision defines economic hardship as an inability to pay
“reasonable basic living expenses” and directs the Commissioner
to consider factors such as, among other things, the taxpayer’s
age, employment status and history, ability to earn, number of
dependents, and amount reasonably necessary for food, clothing,
housing, utilities, medical expenses, insurance (including home-
owner & health), transportation, current tax payments, etc. Sec.
301.6343-1(b)(4), Proced. & Admin. Regs.
The parties dispute what information the Court should
consider in its analysis of this element. Respondent’s position
is that consideration should take into account only those
materials provided to the Appeals Office during the underlying
administrative process. Petitioner disagrees and has sought to
supplement the administrative record in several respects.
Petitioner suggests that a purportedly insufficient quantity of
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Last modified: November 10, 2007