IRC 6015

The Tax Court in Vanover v. Comm’r filed April 22, 2025 at T.C. Memo 2025-37 held that the requesting spouse should be granted partial relief under Section 6015(c) with respect to an understatement of the non-requesting spouse, but be denied relief under section 6015(b)(c) and (f) for all other items.  Seems like all of the Innocent Spouse cases are lengthy, and this one is no different at 16 pages plus 2 pages of footnotes. Most times this is due to the lengthy analysis of factors for equitable relief under 6015(f). This case is no different in format to others in that regard. What is of interest and highlighted here is the analysis under 6015(b) and (c). This case is fact heavy, from a nasty divorce that included a physical altercation, to financial mismanagement on behalf of all taxpayers, the Court did a good job of setting the scene. What’s key to know about 6015(b) and 6015(c) is that they both require understatements of income.  Whereas 6015(f) can be used if there is an underpayment of tax.  Under 6015(b), if an additional assessment arises, relief from joint liability can be had if the item is attributable to the other spouse. The requesting spouse must establish that when they signed the return, they did not know and had no reason to know that there was a possible understatement. This is the “traditional,” original form of innocent spouse relief. Under 6015(c), a requesting spouse shall be relieved from liability for deficiencies allocable to the nonrequesting spouse.   In other words, they separate the liability.  Under this provision, in order to obtain relief, you must be divorced, legally separated, or living apart for at least 12 months. The case carefully sorts through all factors of each statute, ultimately denying most relief for the requesting spouse.  Regardless, it is much more common to see equitable relief cases under 6015(f), so this review is rather helpful.