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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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