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“Each individual * * * shall sign the income tax return required
to be made by him, except that the return may be signed for the
taxpayer by an agent who is duly authorized in accordance with
paragraph (a)(5) or (b) of §1.6012-1 to make such return.” Sec.
1.6061-1(a), Income Tax Regs. A judicially crafted exception to
this general rule holds that if an “income tax return is intended
by both spouses as a joint return, the absence of the signature
of one spouse does not prevent their intention from being
realized.” Estate of Campbell v. Commissioner, 56 T.C. 1, 12
(1971); see Olpin v. Commissioner, 270 F.3d 1297, 1301 (10th Cir.
2001), affg. T.C. Memo. 1999-426.
There is no indication in respondent’s records that
petitioner and Astrid Downing ever filed any 1995 joint return or
that respondent ever processed any such joint return. Petitioner
has introduced into evidence copies of two different versions of
a Form 1040X that he alleges he and Astrid Downing jointly filed
in October 1996.9 Neither version bears Astrid Downing’s
signature.10 Although each version shows the signature of a tax
9 Petitioner does not contend that he and Astrid Downing
ever filed the original joint return that Ernst & Young prepared
but only the Form 1040X purporting to amend Astrid Downing’s
“Single” 1995 return to claim joint filing status.
10 One version is a copy as enclosed in petitioner’s Apr.
11, 2001, letter to the IRS and shows the signature only of the
tax preparer, dated Oct. 15, 1996. The other version, dated Oct.
25, 1996, shows the signatures of both petitioner and the tax
preparer. The two versions are otherwise substantially
identical, although the Oct. 15, 1996, version appears to contain
(continued...)
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