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See Woodral v. Commissioner, 112 T.C. 19, 23 (1999). Petitioner
bears the burden of showing an abuse of discretion. See Rule
142(a). Our review is limited to whether there was an abuse of
respondent’s discretion, which is a question of fact. See Estate
of Gardner v. Commissioner, 82 T.C. 989, 1000 (1984).
Section 6404(e)(1) provides that the Commissioner may abate
the assessment of interest on any deficiency attributable to any
error or delay by an officer or employee of the Internal Revenue
Service, acting in his or her official capacity and performing a
ministerial act.2 Congress intended abatement of interest to be
used in instances “where failure to abate interest would be
widely perceived as grossly unfair.” H. Rept. 99-426 (1985),
1986-3 C.B. (Vol. 2) 844; S. Rept. 99-313 (1985), 1986-3 C.B.
(Vol. 3) 208. Section 6404(a) provides that the Commissioner is
authorized to abate the unpaid portion of the assessment of any
tax or any liability in respect thereof that is (1) excessive in
2 In 1996, sec. 6404(e) was amended under sec. 301 of the
Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2, Pub. L. 104-168, 110 Stat. 1452, 1457
(1996), to permit respondent to abate interest with respect to an
“unreasonable” error or delay resulting from “managerial” and
ministerial acts. The new provision applies to interest accruing
with respect to deficiencies or payments for tax years beginning
after July 30, 1996; therefore, it is not applicable to the case
at bar.
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