- 10 - Interest abatement is not a routine matter; the taxpayer has had the use of the unpaid taxes, and the Treasury has not had the use of the taxes to which it was entitled. As we recently observed in Smith v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2002-1, quoting the legislative history: Section 6404(e) is not intended to be “used routinely to avoid payment of interest”, but rather is to be “utilized in instances where failure to abate interest would be widely perceived as grossly unfair.” H. Rept. 99-426, at 844 (1985), 1986-3 C.B. (Vol. 2) 1, 844; S. Rept. 99-313, at 208 (1985), 1986-3 C.B. (Vol. 3) 1, 208. A ministerial act is a nondiscretionary procedural act that the Commissioner is required to perform. According to the legislative history: The committee intends that the term "ministerial act" be limited to nondiscretionary acts where all of the preliminary prerequisites, such as conferencing and review by supervisors, have taken place. Thus, a ministerial act is a procedural action, not a decision in a substantive area of tax law. For example, a delay in the issuance of a statutory notice of deficiency after the IRS and the taxpayer have completed efforts to resolve the matter could be grounds for abatement of interest. The IRS may define a ministerial act in regulations. [S. Rept. 99-313, supra at 209, 1986-3 C.B. (Vol. 3) at 209; emphasis added.] Similarly, the temporary regulations provide: The term "ministerial act" means a procedural or mechanical act that does not involve the exercise of judgment or discretion, and that occurs during the processing of a taxpayer's case after all prerequisites to the act, such as conferences and review by supervisors, have taken place. A decision concerning the proper application of federal tax law (or other federal or state law) is not a ministerial act. [Sec.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011