Tax Court Keeps Petition Deadline for Innocent Spouse Tax Relief

The US Tax Court can’t hear a husband’s petition for innocent spouse relief because he failed to file before deadline, the court ruled after revisiting its jurisdictional precedent.

Paul Frutiger mailed his petition challenging the IRS’s determination 92 days after it issued a notice denying him innocent spouse relief—just past the 90-day deadline set by IRC Section 6015, the Tax Court said.

Frutiger asked the court to revisit whether his tardiness barred his case, arguing the US Supreme Court had upended Tax Court precedent with its 2022 decision in Boechler PC v. Commissioner.

In Boechler, the high ...