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IV. Parties’ Contentions
Both sides treat section 6015(g)(2) as the controlling
statute; their disputes center on a Treasury regulation
interpreting this statute.
Petitioner contends that relief under section 6015 was not
available to her in the 1989 case and so, under Treasury
regulations, she is to be treated as not having meaningfully
participated in the 1989 case, whether or not she in fact
meaningfully participated. Petitioner concludes that, “as a
matter of law she is not barred by the ‘meaningful participation’
rule from asserting innocent spouse status under section 6015 in
this case.” Petitioner bases her contention that relief under
section 6015 was not available in the 1989 case on the following:
(1) When the record was closed in the 1989 case, the 1998 Act had
not yet been enacted, so section 6015 relief could not have been
claimed; (2) section 6015 as enacted by the 1998 Act required
exhaustion of administrative remedies and, even if petitioner had
applied promptly when the administrative remedies became
available, she would not have been able to petition this Court
“until July 13, 1999–-four months after the Court entered its
decision in the 1989 case”;5 (3) until January 17, 2001, when
5 The Court entered the decision on Oct. 2, 2000, after
resolution of a Rule 155 dispute. Petitioner may be referring to
the date of the Court’s initial opinion in the 1989 case.
Petitioner points out that the Court ordinarily does not permit a
(continued...)
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