- 8 - some error or delay of an employee in performing a ministerial act but also that such error or delay occurred after the taxpayer was first contacted in writing about the deficiency and before the interest was assessed. Petitioner has not made that preliminary showing for any of the years here in question.5 Petitioner’s brief contains a statement of facts that reiterates the stipulation. Petitioner has failed to establish concrete incidences of error or delay in performing ministerial acts that gave rise to any assessment of interest. Petitioner argues that the length of time from the start of respondent’s examination of 1985 until the conclusion of respondent’s examination of 1985, 1986, and 1987 automatically establishes that there was an erroneous or dilatory ministerial act or acts. We disagree. See Lee v. Commissioner, 113 T.C. 145, 150 (1999) ("The mere passage of time in the litigation phase of a tax dispute does not establish error or delay by the Commissioner in performing a ministerial act."). The length of time required by petitioner's case was largely a function of the expansion of 5 For each of the taxable years in question, the relevant periods during which petitioner must show error or delay in performing a ministerial act (i.e., the period from first written contact to assessment of the interest) are as follows: Taxable Year Period 1985 7/22/86 to 3/19/92 1986 11/01/88 to 3/19/92 1987 6/13/88 to 4/05/93Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011