The Tax Court recently decided an issue of first impression concerning innocent spouse relief, describing it as "a small but noticeable gap in the tax law": Does the right of a nonelecting spouse to intervene in an innocent spouse case continue after the nonelecting spouse's death? The court answered in the affirmative.
Section 6015 provides relief from joint and several liability arising from the filing of a joint return where one of the spouses did not know and had no reason to know of a deficiency on the return. The IRS cannot assert the deficiency against a taxpayer granted this relief but can enforce collection only from the other, nonelecting spouse. Section ...