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Proced. & Admin. Regs., 52 Fed. Reg. 30163 (Aug. 13, 1987).9 A
decision concerning the proper application of Federal tax law is
not a ministerial act. See id. We proceed to consider whether
respondent's refusal to abate interest in the instant case was an
abuse of discretion. Our analysis is segmented into the relevant
time periods.
April 1, 1985, Through August 1987
April 1, 1985, the date respondent mailed notices of
beginning administrative proceedings to the individual limited
partners of TLP, is the point at which respondent first contacted
petitioners in writing with respect to the deficiencies.
Consequently, April 1, 1985, begins the period that may be taken
into account, pursuant to section 6404(e), in deciding whether
interest may be abated. At trial, Agent McBrien explained that
between April 1, 1985, and September 1987, Agents Dosil and
McBrien spent most of their time considering whether to allow the
R&D expense and whether to determine penalties. He also
testified that work on the TLP file proceeded at a steady pace as
9 The final regulations under sec. 6404 were issued on Dec.
18, 1998. The final regulations generally apply to interest
accruing on deficiencies or payments of tax described in sec.
6212(a) for tax years beginning after July 30, 1996. See sec.
301.6404-2(d)(1), Proced. & Admin. Regs. Accordingly, the final
regulations are inapplicable to the instant case, and sec.
301.6404-2T, Temporary Proced. & Admin. Regs., 52 Fed. Reg. 30163
(Aug. 13, 1987), effective for taxable years beginning after Dec.
31, 1978, but before July 30, 1996, does apply. See sec.
301.6404-2T(c), Temporary Proced. & Admin. Regs., supra.
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