- 8 -
W. Reserve Oil & Gas Co. v. Commissioner, 95 T.C. 51 (1990),
affd. without published opinion 995 F.2d 235 (9th Cir. 1993).7
Thus, we must decide whether the current proceeding involving
petitioner’s request for section 6015 spousal relief affects Mr.
Kovitch’s tax liability for purposes of applying the automatic
stay.
7 This construction is consistent with the recently amended
language of 11 U.S.C. sec. 362(a)(8). People Place Auto Hand
Carwash, LLC v. Commissioner, supra at 364; see also Bankruptcy
Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 sec. 709.
There is no indication in the legislative history that the change
from “concerning the debtor” to “concerning the tax liability of
the debtor” should alter the way the statute is interpreted with
regard to the debtor. Rather, this amendment clarifies how the
statute had been interpreted by the courts before the amendment.
The legislative history describes the purpose of this amendment
as follows:
“Under current law, the filing of a petition for relief
under the Bankruptcy Code activates an automatic stay
that enjoins the commencement or continuation of a case
in the United States Tax Court. This rule was arguably
extended in Halpern v. Commissioner [96 T.C. 895
(1991)], which held that the tax court did not have
jurisdiction to hear a case involving a postpetition
year. To address this issue, section 709 of the Act
amends section 362(a)(8) of the Bankruptcy Code to
specify that the automatic stay is limited to an
individual debtor’s prepetition taxes (taxes incurred
before entering bankruptcy). The amendment clarifies
that the automatic stay does not apply to an individual
debtor’s postpetition taxes. In addition, section 709
provides that the stay applies to both prepetition and
postpetition tax liabilities of a corporation so long
as it is a liability that the bankruptcy court may
determine. [H. Rept. 109-31 (Pt. 1), at 102 (2005).]”
People Place Auto Hand Carwash, LLC v. Commissioner, supra at 362
n.6.
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