David Bruce Billings - Page 5




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          those circuit courts and dismissed David’s case for a lack of               
          jurisdiction.                                                               
              David appealed our decision to the Tenth Circuit (he was a             
          resident of Kansas when he filed his petition).  Congress amended           
          section 6015 to give us jurisdiction over nondeficiency stand-              
          alone cases, and the Tenth Circuit remanded the case to us for              
          reconsideration.  We then ordered the parties to report whether             
          the Billingses’ tax liability remained unpaid, and they recently            
          filed a stipulation agreeing that it did.                                   
                                       OPINION                                        
               As we summarized this part of tax law in our earlier                   
          opinion, Billings I, 127 T.C. at 11-12, a married couple who file           
          their Federal tax return jointly are both responsible for the               
          return’s accuracy and are both jointly and severally liable for             
          the entire tax due.  Sec. 6013(d)(3); Butler v. Commissioner, 114           
          T.C. 276, 282 (2000).  Section 6015, however, directs the                   
          Commissioner to relieve qualifying innocent spouses from that               
          liability under certain circumstances.  Sec. 6015(a).  An                   
          innocent spouse may seek relief from liability under section                
          6015(b) if he can show that he was justifiably ignorant of                  
          unreported income or inflated deductions.  He may have his tax              
          liability allocated between himself and an estranged or former              
          spouse under section 6015(c).  Or, like David, he may look to               
          section 6015(f) for relief.  Subsection (f) relief is available             







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