William B. Berry and Marjorie S. Berry - Page 11




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          beginning date for abatement because petitioners found that the 3           
          years and 7 months prior to that date was a “reasonable time” for           
          audit and settlement.                                                       
               Petitioners’ primary argument is that respondent abused his            
          discretion because he failed to adequately explain his use of               
          discretion in the final determination or during trial.                      
          Petitioners rely heavily upon the case of Jacobs v. Commissioner,           
          T.C. Memo. 2000-123, in this argument.  Specifically, petitioners           
          emphasize our holding with respect to the Commissioner’s refusal            
          to abate interest for portions of the period September 1987                 
          through November 17, 1991.  This was a period for which the                 
          record provided few details concerning the actions of the IRS.              
          Furthermore, the final determination letters issued to the                  
          taxpayers had cursorily concluded:  “We did not find any errors             
          or delays that merit abatement of interest in our review of                 
          available records and other information”.  Noting that the                  
          Commissioner is best able to know what actions were taken by IRS            
          officers and employees, we concluded that in regard to those                
          specific periods for which he failed to explain the basis of his            
          refusal to abate interest, the refusal was an abuse of                      
          discretion.                                                                 
               We agree with petitioners that, as was the case in Jacobs,             
          the language in the determination letter was rather cursory and             
          possibly left out many details concerning respondent’s inquiry              






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