Seventh Circuit: Frances Rogers v. CIR

 

Innocent Spouse relief unavailable when the spouse in question is represented by counsel in a formal proceeding (even if that counsel is their spouse), attends the entire proceeding, and is highly educated.

When assessing standard of living when determining if the spouse had a duty to inquire about the questionable tax filings, the relevant consideration is whether there was a substantial increase in the standard of living, not whether it was generally high.

A legally sophisticated party's affidavit claiming that there was no conflict in being represented by their spouse in a tax case involving a jointly filed return waives a subsequent right to a new trial based on evidence that their counsel allegedly didn't call witnesses that would support the legally sophisticated party's claim to Innocent Spouse relief.

https://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2021/D08-17/C:20-2789:J:Scudder:aut:T:fnOp:N:2748862:S:0