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petition; subsection (c) would continue to provide an effective
date; but under the majority’s holdings, subsection (a) would not
have effect.
The majority’s construction “offends the well-settled rule
of statutory construction that all parts of a statute, if at all
possible, are to be given effect.” Weinberger v. Hynson,
Westcott & Dunning, 412 U.S. 609, 633 (1973); see Fort Stewart
Schools v. F.L.R.A., 860 F.2d 396, 403 (11th Cir. 1988), affd.
495 U.S. 641 (1990); Beisler v. Commissioner, 814 F.2d 1304, 1307
(9th Cir. 1987), affg. T.C. Memo. 1985-25.
We can interpret the statute so as to make it “work”, and we
can do so without arrogating to this Court the authority to make
line-drawing decisions that normally are regarded as being within
the province of the Congress.
Section 3463(a) of the 1998 Act directs the Commissioner to
include certain information “on each notice of deficiency under
section 6212 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986”.
Respectfully, I would interpret this Congressional command as an
instruction that the Commissioner must comply with in order to
have a valid notice of deficiency. It is simple for the
Commissioner to comply with this Congressional command. It is
simple for a reviewing court (ordinarily, this Court) to
determine whether this congressional command has been complied
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