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In 1996, section 6404(e) was amended by section 301(a) of
the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2, Pub. L. 104-168, 110 Stat. 1457
(1996), to permit the Commissioner to abate interest with respect
to “unreasonable” errors or delays resulting from “managerial”
acts as well as from ministerial acts. This amendment applies to
interest accruing with respect to deficiencies or payments for
tax years beginning after July 30, 1996. Id. sec. 301(c);
Woodral v. Commissioner, 112 T.C. 19, 25 n.8 (1999). The
amendment is therefore inapplicable in this case. Petitioners
assume in their brief that the amendment permits abatement for
managerial acts which occur after July 30, 1996. This assumption
is incorrect: the triggering date for the applicability of the
amendment is the taxable year of the underlying deficiency or
payment, not the date of the managerial act.
The Department of the Treasury has interpreted a ministerial
act as “a procedural or mechanical act that does not involve the
exercise of judgment or discretion, and that occurs during the
processing of a taxpayer’s case after all prerequisites to the
act, such as conferences and review by supervisors, have taken
place.” Sec. 301.6404-2T(b)(1), Temporary Proced. & Admin.
Regs., 52 Fed. Reg. 30163 (Aug. 13, 1987).3
3 The final regulations under sec. 6404 contain the same
definition of a ministerial act as the temporary regulations.
Sec. 301.6404-2(b)(2), Proced. & Admin. Regs. However, the final
regulations do not apply in this case because they apply only to
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