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parties, including representatives of Sadisco, the Department of
Motor Vehicles (DMV), and certain purchasers of petitioners’
rebuilt vehicles.
On reply brief, respondent concedes that in the course of
preparing for trial, respondent’s trial counsel contacted
potential witnesses without advance notice to petitioners.
Respondent contends that these contacts did not violate section
7602(c). We agree with respondent.
Section 7602(c) restricts the IRS’s third-party contacts
“with respect to the determination or collection of the tax
liability”. The statute does not expressly indicate whether the
IRS’s trial preparations in the course of a court proceeding
should be considered to be “with respect to the determination or
collection of the tax liability”.
The proposed regulations state that “Section 7602(c) does
not apply to contacts made in the course of a pending court
proceeding.” Section 301.7602-2(f)(7), Proposed Proced. & Admin.
Regs., 66 Fed. Reg. 84 (Jan. 2, 2001). Proposed regulations are
given no greater weight than a position advanced by respondent on
brief. See F.W. Woolworth Co. v. Commissioner, 54 T.C. 1233,
1265-1266 (1970). Nevertheless, they can be useful guidelines
where, as here, they closely follow the legislative history of
the statutory provision in question. See Van Wyk v.
Commissioner, 113 T.C. 440, 444 (1999).
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