Anna Lee Locke - Page 7

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          decedent's partnership item.  Petitioner's argument is                      
          unsupported by law and is without merit.  There is no                       
          relationship between the estate tax liability and the amount at             
          issue here, although the estate tax return is relevant for                  
          reasons discussed below.                                                    
               Petitioner also argues that respondent is estopped from                
          assessing a computational adjustment in respect of the 1982                 
          return because respondent had previously issued a refund for                
          1982.  A refund, however, is not binding on respondent in the               
          absence of a closing agreement, valid compromise, or final                  
          adjudication.  Meridian Mut. Ins. Co. v. Commissioner, 44 T.C.              
          375, 379 (1965), affd. 369 F.2d 508 (7th Cir. 1966).  Petitioner            
          relies on Schuster v. Commissioner, 312 F.2d 311 (9th Cir. 1962),           
          affg. in part and revg. in part 32 T.C. 998 (1959), affg. in part           
          and revg. in part First W. Bank & Trust Co. v. Commissioner, 32             
          T.C. 1017 (1959), to support her assertion of estoppel.  But the            
          doctrine of estoppel is applied against the Government "with the            
          utmost caution and restraint".  Kronish v. Commissioner, 90 T.C.            
          684, 695 (1988) (quoting Boulez v. Commissioner, 76 T.C. 209,               
          214-215 (1981), affd. 810 F.2d 209 (D.C. Cir. 1987)).                       
               In Schuster, a bank received information of a determination            
          by the Commissioner that the corpus of a trust was not to be                
          included in a taxpayer's gross estate.  The bank, in reliance on            
          the information, distributed the trust corpus.  The Commissioner            
          subsequently mailed a notice of transferee liability to the bank,           




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