Hospital Corporation of America and Subsidiaries - Page 32

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          agreement they reached with Appeals Officers Johnson and                    
          Sinclair.  During the negotiations, Mr. Deaton informed Appeals             
          Officer Sinclair that petitioners would file their consolidated             
          1979 return using the hybrid method even though such return had             
          initially been prepared on the cash method and the time for                 
          filing was near.  Mr. Kown would not have agreed to adopt the               
          hybrid method for the 1972 and 1973 years had he known that the             
          IRS would object to its use for petitioners' returns filed for              
          subsequent taxable years.                                                   
               In an attempt to memorialize his understanding of the                  
          agreement with Appeals Officers Johnson and Sinclair, Mr. Kown              
          wrote them a letter on June 13, 1980, in which he outlined his              
          understanding of the proposed resolution of the accounting method           
          issue.  Mr. Kown further stated that it was petitioners'                    
          understanding that their agreement with respect to such issue               
          would be binding until Congress expressly prohibited the hybrid             
          method of accounting by hospitals.  Mr. Kown sent the letter                
          prior to the time the stipulations regarding such issues were               
          prepared and filed with the U.S. Tax Court.  He did not receive a           
          written response to his letter but he subsequently discussed it             
          in a telephone conversation with Appeals Officer Sinclair.  At              
          such time, Appeals Officer Sinclair, while "making no promises",            
          indicated that he thought that the hybrid method would continue             
          to be followed unless a statutory change or a final controlling             
          court decision required a different result.                                 




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