- 8 - see also Farmer v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2007-74; Van Arsdalen v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2007-48. We review the Commissioner’s denial of relief for abuse of discretion. Jonson v. Commissioner, 118 T.C. 106, 125 (2002), affd. 353 F.3d 1181 (10th Cir. 2003); Farmer v. Commissioner, supra; Van Arsdalen v. Commissioner, supra. The taxpayer seeking relief has the burden of proof. Alt v. Commissioner, 119 T.C. 306, 311 (2002), affd. 101 Fed. Appx. 34 (6th Cir. 2004). To prevail, the taxpayer must show that the Commissioner’s determination was arbitrary, capricious, or without sound basis in fact or law. Butler v. Commissioner, supra at 291-292; Farmer v. Commissioner, supra; Van Arsdalen v. Commissioner, supra. The Commissioner promulgated a list of factors in Rev. Proc. 2000-15, sec. 4, 2000-1 C.B. 447, 448-449, that the Commissioner considers in determining whether to grant equitable relief under section 6015(f).5 First, the Commissioner will not grant relief unless seven threshold conditions have been met: (1) The taxpayer must have filed joint returns for the taxable years for which relief is sought; (2) the taxpayer does not qualify for 5 Respondent’s determination was subject to Rev. Proc. 2000-15, 2000-1 C.B. 447. Rev. Proc. 2000-15, supra, was superseded by Rev. Proc. 2003-61, 2003-2 C.B. 296, for requests for relief under sec. 6015(f) that were filed on or after Nov. 1, 2003, or if pending on Nov. 1, 2003, for which no preliminary determination letter had been issued as of Nov. 1, 2003. While petitioner’s request was pending on Nov. 1, 2003, a preliminary determination letter was issued before Nov. 1, 2003.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: November 10, 2007