- 6 -
transferred from her individual IRA to her joint account with Mr.
Elliott. She knew of the transactions and did not ask Mr.
Elliott whether the amounts were reported on their joint Federal
income tax return. Petitioner cannot be granted relief for
understatements that are attributable to her own erroneous items.
See Hopkins v. Commissioner, 121 T.C. 73, 77 (2003). We agree
with respondent that petitioner is not entitled to relief under
section 6015(b).
2. Section 6015(c)
Section 6015(c) allows a taxpayer who is eligible and so
elects to limit his or her liability to the portion of a
deficiency that is properly allocable to the taxpayer as provided
in section 6015(d). Sec. 6015(c)(1). Generally, this avenue of
relief allows a spouse to elect to be treated as if a separate
return had been filed. Rowe v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2001-
325. To be eligible for relief under section 6015(c), the
requesting spouse must be no longer married to, be legally
separated from, or have lived at least 12 months apart from the
individual with whom the tax return was filed. Sec.
6015(c)(3)(A)(i). Relief under section 6015(c) is not available,
however, to a taxpayer if it is shown that the taxpayer had
actual knowledge when signing the return of any “item” giving
rise to a deficiency. Sec. 6015(c)(3)(C). In the case of
omitted income, knowledge of the item includes knowledge of
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: November 10, 2007