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circumstances do not reflect the stuff of “fixed and definite”
liabilities.
Exxon emphasizes that, in spite of Exxon’s failure to
indicate on the Forms 5701 its agreement or disagreement to the
adjustments, respondent’s representatives generally throughout
the audits had a “feeling” as to whether proposed adjustments
reflected in the Forms 5701 were agreed to or were contested by
Exxon’s representatives. Exxon argues that once its
representatives informally and orally communicated to
respondent’s representatives its intent not to protest an
adjustment, Exxon regarded itself, and Exxon should be treated,
as having made a commitment not to do so.
Further, because of its general policy objective and intent
to seek agreement on as many proposed adjustments as possible,
Exxon argues that, by default, all adjustments made by respondent
that were not specifically protested and not expressly contested
should be regarded, throughout the audits, as “agreed” and
“uncontested” adjustments that relate back to the due dates of
the tax returns. We disagree.
The bottom line is that prior to the end of the audits and
prior to the time the Form 870 agreements were entered into or
assessments were made, insufficient specific communications were
provided to respondent’s representatives reflecting Exxon’s
agreement to the agreed adjustments.
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