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“errors or delay” on the part of respondent’s tax examiners.10
In order for petitioner to prevail, there must be an error
or delay in performing a ministerial act that is attributable to
respondent.11 A “ministerial act” does not involve the exercise
of judgment or discretion. Sec. 301.6404-2T(b)(1), Temporary
Proced. & Admin. Regs., 52 Fed. Reg. 30163 (Aug. 13, 1987).
Rather, a ministerial act means a procedural or mechanical act
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. See id. Examples of ministerial
acts are provided in the regulations. See sec. 301.6404-
2T(b)(2), Temporary Proced. & Admin. Regs., 52 Fed. Reg. 30163
(Aug. 13, 1987). In contrast, a decision concerning the proper
application of Federal tax law, or other applicable Federal or
10 Sec. 6404(e) requires not only the identification of an
error or delay caused by a ministerial act on the Commissioner’s
part, but also identification of a specific period of time over
which interest should be abated as a result of that error or
delay. See Donovan v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2000-220. In the
present case, petitioner has not focused on this correlation
between the error or delay attributable to a ministerial act on
respondent’s part and a specific period of time; rather,
petitioner is essentially requesting that all interest with
respect to the deficiencies in income taxes for 1993, 1994, and
1995 be abated. In effect, petitioner is requesting an exemption
from interest, rather than an abatement of interest. However,
the scope of her request is beyond that contemplated by the
statute. See id.
11 Further, an abatement of interest “only applies to the
period of time attributable to the failure to perform the
ministerial act.” H. Rept. 99-426, at 844 (1985), 1986-3 C.B.
(Vol. 2) 1, 844; S. Rept. 99-313, at 208 (1986), 1986-3 C.B.
(Vol. 3) 1, 208; see supra note 9.
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