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Before TEFRA, adjustments with respect to partnership
items were made to each partner's income tax return at
the time (and if) that return was examined. * * * The
tax writing committees explained the TEFRA partnership
provisions as follows: "[T]he tax treatment of items
of partnership income, loss, deductions, and credits
will be determined at the partnership level in a
unified partnership proceeding rather than in separate
proceedings with the partners." * * * Thus, section
6221 provides for the determination of all partnership
items at the partnership level rather than at the
partner level. [Majority op. pp. 11-12; citations
omitted.]
Despite its acknowledgment of the purpose of the TEFRA
partnership rules, the majority holds that if the partner's
personal limitations period has not expired, then the
partnership's limitations period is irrelevant with respect to
that partner so that the Commissioner may make a partnership-
level determination of a partnership item, which would apply to
only the partner with the unexpired personal limitations period.
This result is contrary to the statutory scheme and frustrates
the TEFRA goal to minimize inconsistent treatment of partners.
In addition to providing inconsistent treatment of
partnership items, the majority's holding will complicate the
administration of the TEFRA statutes because it will cause
nonpartnership items to be adjudicated in TEFRA partnership-level
proceedings, which result is inconsistent with TEFRA policy.5
5The separate treatment of partnership and nonpartnership
items in partnership proceedings is integral to the statutory
framework of TEFRA and reflects the intent of Congress. For
instance,
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