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Before payment, petitioner filed a Claim for Refund and
Request for Abatement in March 1997. In it, he requested an
abatement of interest for the period from November 1, 1991, to
March 21, 1997, in the amount of $864.56. This period
corresponds to the time between which petitioner wrote the 1991
letter and filed his 1997 request for abatement. In support of
his claim, petitioner stated that he tried to stop the accrual of
interest when he sent the October 1991 letter.
Respondent reviewed petitioner’s request and disallowed his
claim for abatement of interest, stating that there were no
“errors or delays that merit abatement of interest in our review
of available records and other information for the period from
11/1/91 to 3/21/97.” Petitioner asks us to review respondent’s
failure to abate interest for an abuse of discretion.
OPINION
The Commissioner’s power to abate an assessment of interest
involves the exercise of discretion. See Lee v. Commissioner,
113 T.C. 145 (1999). Though we shall give the Commissioner’s
decision some deference, we have the authority to determine
whether the Commissioner’s failure to abate interest was an abuse
of that discretion. See sec. 6404(i); Lee v. Commissioner,
supra. A taxpayer will be given an abatement only if he or she
can prove that the Commissioner exercised this discretion
arbitrarily, capriciously, or without sound basis in fact or law.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011