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In fact, respondent has not even asked the Court to consider the
right waived in the instant setting.
4. Need for Appeals To Obtain Verification at the Hearing
The majority fail to discuss persuasively the fact that
petitioners have alleged in paragraph 6(a) of their petition that
“The appeals officer took the position that the assessment is
valid without verifying that there was in fact an assessment.”
Under the statutory scheme, it would appear that petitioners are
correct in this assertion. The statute requires explicitly that
this verification must come “at the hearing”.4 Sec. 6330(c)(1)
(“The appeals officer shall at the hearing obtain verification
from the Secretary that the requirements of any applicable law or
administrative procedure have been met”. (Emphasis added.)).
The legislative history reinforces this result by stating that
“During the hearing, the IRS is required to verify that all
statutory, regulatory, and administrative requirements for the
proposed collection action have been met.” S. Rept. 105-174,
supra at 68, 1998-3 C.B. at 604 (emphasis added).
Absent a hearing, I do not see how the Commissioner can meet
this “at the hearing” verification requirement. The mere fact
that the verification may have come at a time other than “at the
hearing” is of no concern. Congress obviously believed it
4 The majority conveniently omit from their paraphrasing of
sec. 6330(c)(1) that the verification must occur “at the
hearing”. See majority op. p. 2.
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