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It is undisputed that the Form 2553 was incomplete when it
was received in the Service Center on March 18, 1991. The
individual who originally reviewed the form followed the
instructions provided in the Internal Revenue Manual with respect
to incomplete Forms 2553. The form was returned to NTI with a
letter dated April 9, 1991, that contained specific inquiries and
directions. The actions of the Service Center employee who
followed the instructions in the manual were reasonable under the
circumstances. NTI did not respond to respondent's April 9,
1991, letter until long after the designated period to do so had
expired. On September 16, 1992, when NTI's Form 2553, now with
an incorrect effective date filled in, was received for the
second time in the Service Center, respondent's action in
treating the election as effective for 1993 was also reasonable
given the date that the form was received, notwithstanding the
fact that on the face of the document a date stamp indicated that
it was first received in the Service Center on March 18, 1991.
Sec. 1362.
Because we are not addressing the validity of the Form 2553
as submitted in March 1991 with the effective date missing, we
see little point in specifically addressing the cases relied upon
by petitioner in support of his claim that the omission of the
date was inconsequential. Suffice it to say that we disagree
with petitioner's argument that returning the Form 2553 pursuant
to the relevant Internal Revenue Manual provisions was contrary
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