John J. Flynn and James H. Thomas - Page 6




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          1(b)(3), Income Tax Regs.  The only instance in which a former              
          employee qualifies as an interested party is in the case of a               
          plan termination.  See sec. 1.7476-1(b)(5), Income Tax Regs.                
               Petitioners concede that, as former employees of the Union,            
          they do not qualify as interested parties under the controlling             
          regulation.  Petitioners nevertheless contend that, because the             
          Union treated them as interested parties during the                         
          administrative proceedings, as evidenced by their receipt of the            
          Notice to Interested Parties, the technical requirements of the             
          regulations defining interested parties should be deemed waived.            
          We disagree.  In short, petitioners ignore the principle that our           
          jurisdiction cannot be enlarged by agreement of the parties,                
          waiver, or failure to object.  See Romann v. Commissioner, 111              
          T.C. 273, 281 (1998); see also Smith v. Commissioner, supra at              
          13-14; Loftus v. Commissioner, 90 T.C. 845, 861 (1988), affd.               
          without published opinion 872 F.2d 1021 (2d Cir. 1989).                     
          Accordingly, we hold that the Union's error in serving                      
          petitioners with a copy of the Notice to Interested Parties does            
          not provide a basis for concluding that petitioners are                     
          interested parties in this action.  See Romann v. Commissioner,             
          supra at 281 (The Commissioner's erroneous treatment of a former            
          employee as an interested party during the administrative process           
          does not provide a basis for treating the former employee as an             
          interested party for purposes of determining the taxpayer's                 






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