Case 1: Candice Hollimon & Fadil A.M. AL Bakari vs. Commissioner
Facts: Ms. Hollimon and Mr. Al Bakari married in 2000. They met when Ms. Hollimon was receiving inpatient care (she struggles with bipolar disorder and diabetes.) During the marriage they established Bay Area Staffing, which provided temporary staff to hospitals. Ms. Hollimon testified that Mr. Al Bakari was the CEO of the staffing agency and managed the business, while she was only an employee. Mr. Al Bakari disagreed with this, and said they ran the business together. Since both names were on the DBA, they were both responsible for the staffing business that was run out of their home.
Unfortunately, Ms. Hollimon and Mr. Al Bakari dealt with abuse from one another. This abuse …show more content…
Code Section 6015 - Relief from joint and several liability on joint return
(f) Equitable relief under procedures prescribed by the Secretary, if—
(1) taking into account all the facts and circumstances, it is inequitable to hold the individual liable for any unpaid tax or any deficiency (or any portion of either); and
(2) relief is not available to such individual under subsection (b) or (c), the Secretary may relieve such individual of such liability
Discussion: Since Ms. Hollimon was not entitled to relief in 2009 under section 6015(b) or (c), she can still try to seek relief under section 6015(f). The Commissioner has outlined seven threshold conditions, for considering whether section 6015(f) should be granted. According to the record, Ms. Hollimon meets the first six conditions. The seventh condition states “The income tax liability from which the requesting spouse seeks relief is attributable (either in full or in part) to an item of the non-requesting spouse or an underpayment resulting from the non-requesting spouse’s income” unless a specific exception applies. One of these exceptions is …show more content…
Pro. 2013-34, sec. 4.01(7)(d), 2013-43 I.R.B. at 400
Since we are aware that Ms. Hollimon was a victim of abuse and was afraid to question Mr. Al Bakari about the tax return for fear of additional abuse, she satisfies the threshold conditions. However, Hollimon does not satisfy the streamlined conditions because she does not face economic hardship. Due to this fact, we have to look at the facts and circumstances test to determine if she qualifies for the