- 5 - substantially justified until the case was called for trial at the May 18, 1998, calendar. The notice of deficiency was sent to petitioners on May 23, 1997. Respondent’s Appeals officer requested a meeting with petitioners’ representative in a letter dated February 2, 1998. Petitioners’ counsel replied that a meeting was inconvenient at that time but that documents could be provided by mail. The Appeals officer agreed and provided counsel with a list of needed information. The requested information was not provided until April 14, 1998. After a timely review of the requested information, respondent’s Appeals officer concluded on May 1, 1998, that petitioners were entitled to a refund and forwarded a proposed settlement computation to petitioners’ counsel. Petitioners’ counsel indicated his agreement by return facsimile that same day.4 On May 11, 1998, however, petitioners’ counsel was advised by the Appeals officer that his supervisor refused to approve the proposed settlement. The case was forwarded to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) District Counsel on May 11, 1998, 1 week before calendar call. Shortly after being informed that there would be no settlement with the IRS Appeals Office, petitioners’ counsel 4 Although the settlement proposal required petitioners to concede deductions to which they were arguably entitled, the settlement was accepted to avoid the further expense of trial.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
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