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least one of the criteria for a “serious administrative omission”
was satisfied, respondent’s self-imposed stated conditions for
reopening petitioner’s 1992 tax case were satisfied.
b. Second Inspection
Section 7605(b) provides:
No taxpayer shall be subjected to unnecessary
examination or investigations, and only one inspection
of a taxpayer’s books of account shall be made for each
taxable year unless the taxpayer requests otherwise or
unless the Secretary or his delegate, after
investigation, notifies the taxpayer in writing that an
additional inspection is necessary.
The purpose of section 7605(b) is not to limit the number of
examinations, but to shift the discretion for a reexamination of
the taxpayer’s books to higher management personnel from the
field agent; this serves “to emphasize the responsibility of
agents to exercise prudent judgment in wielding the extensive
powers granted to them by the Internal Revenue Code.” United
States v. Powell, 379 U.S. 48, 56 (1964). Section 7605(b) was
not meant to restrict the scope of respondent’s legitimate power
to protect the revenue. See id. Section 7605(b) is not to be
read so broadly as to defeat the powers granted to respondent to
examine the correctness of a taxpayer’s return. See De Masters
v. Arend, 313 F.2d 79, 87 (9th Cir. 1963).
There is no evidence in the record of a second inspection as
contemplated by section 7605(b), irrespective of whether
petitioner is arguing that respondent’s reopening of the
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