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not been accepted or signed on behalf of the Commissioner, we
added:
Moreover, even if it be assumed that either
stipulation had been signed, petitioner would not be
entitled to have an order entered disposing of the case
upon the basis of such document. This Court will, of
course, enter an order adjudicating liability in
accordance with an agreement of the parties, for the
existence of such agreement shows that there is no
longer any controversy between them. And once a
stipulation is filed by both sides, it is binding upon
them. Cf. Fred M. Saigh, Jr., 26 T.C. 171. But where,
for whatever reason, the parties are not in agreement
at the time the case is called for trial, it is wholly
irrelevant in this connection that they may have been
in agreement at some earlier time. The inquiry into
whether respondent’s Chief Counsel had “signed” the
stipulations in this case is therefore beside the
point. Furthermore, the mere signing of a paper, while
retaining custody of it, does not necessarily render it
an operative document. Until it is delivered or until
some appropriate action is taken with respect thereto,
it is far from clear that the signer may not scratch
out his signature.
Id. (emphasis added). In Estate of Jones v. Commissioner, 795
F.2d 566, 573 (6th Cir. 1986), affg. T.C. Memo. 1984-53, the
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (the Sixth Circuit) upheld
this Court’s determination that a settlement was not validly
executed because it had not been filed with the Court and had not
been signed by or on behalf of the Chief Counsel, although it had
been approved by an IRS Appeals officer. This Court had relied
on the Cole case, which the Sixth Circuit quoted in part,
beginning its quotation with the underscored language set forth
above. The Sixth Circuit acknowledged that, had it been passing
on a settlement agreement independently reached “by ordinary
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