- 18 - “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.Page: Previous 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Next
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