James v. Commissioner

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FILED
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT JUL 26 2012
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
MEGAN JAMES, No. 08-72346
Petitioner - Appellant, Tax Ct. No. 5128-06
v.
MEMORANDUM *
COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL
REVENUE,
Respondent - Appellee.
Appeal from a Decision of the
United States Tax Court
Submitted July 17, 2012 **
Before: SCHROEDER, THOMAS, and SILVERMAN, Circuit Judges.
Megan James appeals pro se from the Tax Court’s summary judgment
upholding the denial of equitable innocent spouse relief for tax years 2000-2004.
We have jurisdiction under 26 U.S.C. § 7482(a). We review de novo. Miller v.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
Comm’r, 310 F.3d 640, 642 (9th Cir. 2002). We affirm.
The Tax Court properly determined that James failed to qualify for innocent
spouse relief because she did not file any valid joint returns. See 26 U.S.C. § 6065(“Except as otherwise provided by the Secretary, any return, declaration, statement,
or other document required to be made under any provision of the internal revenue
laws or regulations shall contain or be verified by a written declaration that it is
made under the penalties of perjury.”); Ordlock v. Comm’r, 533 F.3d 1136, 1139
(9th Cir. 2008) (“To qualify for innocent spouse relief, the taxpayer must show that
the couple filed a joint return, that the return contained an understatement
attributable to ‘erroneous items’ of the other spouse, and that in signing the return,
the ‘innocent spouse’ did not know or have reason to know of the understatement.”
(emphasis added)).
James’s remaining contentions, including those concerning duress and
estoppel, are unpersuasive.
AFFIRMED.
2 08-72346