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that it filed a corporate income tax return separate from her and
Mr. Barrera’s personal return.
On September 30, 2002, at the request of the IRS, petitioner
completed a Questionnaire for Requesting Spouse (questionnaire).
Part 2 (relating to requests for relief from a balance due shown
on a filed return but not paid) and Part 4 (information about
average monthly household income and expenses to determine
whether paying the tax liability would leave the requestor unable
to meet basic living expenses) of the questionnaire were left
blank and not otherwise completed.
On October 4, 2002, in connection with the Federal
investigation of his mortgage brokerage business, Mr. Barrera
pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States and was
sentenced to 27 months’ incarceration. Mr. Barrera started
serving his sentence at a Federal correctional facility in
Alabama in April 2003. After his conviction and prior to the
start of his incarceration, Mr. Barrera continued to reside with
petitioner and their children because petitioner knew Mr. Barrera
had no money and felt that he had nowhere else to live.
In April 2003, after Mr. Barrera’s incarceration, petitioner
learned she had a tax problem when she received correspondence
from the IRS. Prior to this time, petitioner did not believe she
had a tax problem because she had signed the Form 8857 in
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Last modified: November 10, 2007