- 7 - OPINION I. Estoppel We must first decide whether respondent is equitably estopped from determining additional estate taxes against petitioner. The U.S. Supreme Court has stated that the Government may not be estopped on the same grounds as a private person. See OPM v. Richmond, 496 U.S. 414, 419 (1990); Heckler v. Community Health Servs., 467 U.S. 51, 60 (1984). It is well established that the estoppel doctrine should be applied against the Commissioner with the utmost caution and restraint. See Boulez v. Commissioner, 76 T.C. 209, 214-215 (1981), affd. 810 F.2d 209 (D.C. Cir. 1987); Estate of Emerson v. Commissioner, 67 T.C. 612, 617 (1977). The traditional elements of estoppel include: (1) Conduct constituting a [mis]representation of material fact; (2) actual or imputed knowledge of such fact by the representor; (3) ignorance of the fact by the representee; (4) actual or imputed expectation by the representor that the representee will act in reliance upon the representation; (5) actual reliance thereon; and (6) detriment on the part of the representee. * * * [Graff v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 743, 761 (1980).] See Norfolk S. Corp. v. Commissioner, 104 T.C. 13, 60 (1995); Hudock v. Commissioner, 65 T.C. 351, 363 (1975). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, to which the present case is appealable, requires two additional elements in order to estop the Government: (1) Affirmative misconduct going beyond merePage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
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