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Chamberlain attached the forms to his Federal income tax return
for each corresponding year, allowing him to claim a dependency
exemption for that year. Mrs. Norris retained her right to claim
a dependency exemption for the other child since the 1993
divorce.
The parties have stipulated that in 1995 Mrs. Norris
executed a Form 8332 releasing her right to claim one of the
children as a dependent “for all future years”.2 Mr. Chamberlain
affixed the original of this Form 8332 to his 1995 Federal income
tax return; a fire subsequently destroyed all copies in Mr.
Chamberlain’s possession. In 1996 Mr. Chamberlain began
attaching Post-itŪ notes to ensuing Federal income tax returns
referencing the Form 8332 that Mrs. Norris executed in 1995. Mr.
Chamberlain continued the practice of attaching Post-itŪ notes
referencing the 1995 Form 8332 through the taxable year 2003.
2The existence of this Form 8332, Release of Claim to
Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents, has been a
matter of contention throughout these proceedings. Mr.
Chamberlain claims that he had attached the original Form 8332 to
his 1995 Federal income tax return and that any copy that he
might have retained was destroyed in a fire the following year.
The Internal Revenue Service has since destroyed its files of
individual Federal income tax returns for the taxable year 1995
in accordance with its policies and cannot produce a copy. In
November 2006, however, Mrs. Norris executed a notarized letter
declaring that she relinquished her rights to one of the
dependency exceptions “for all future years”. Respondent
originally protested the admission of Mrs. Norris’s letter into
the record as hearsay; however, in a conference held Feb. 23,
2007, Mrs. Norris acknowledged the letter’s validity. Respondent
subsequently withdrew his objection, and the parties have
stipulated to the existence of the 1995 Form 8332 “for all future
years.”
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Last modified: November 10, 2007