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parties; prior judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction;
final judgment on the merits; and the same cause of action. In
re A.H. Robins Co., 880 F.2d 694 (4th Cir. 1989); Republic Supply
Co. v. Shoaf, 815 F.2d 1046 (5th Cir. 1987).
In a substantially similar case to the case we consider, the
Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit addressed the issue of
whether the Commissioner is precluded by res judicata or
equitably estopped from assessing deficiencies in connection with
tax liabilities already claimed in and allowed in lesser amounts
in a confirmed plan of reorganization. In re DePaolo, 45 F.3d
373 (10th Cir. 1995). In that case, the debtor filed for
bankruptcy, and the Commissioner filed a proof of claim and
amendments to the proof of claim which set forth the debtor’s tax
liability for the tax years 1984 through 1987. The Commissioner
did not object to the debtor’s plan of reorganization, which was
confirmed by the bankruptcy court in 1988. The debtor began
making payments on his tax liability pursuant to the plan, and in
October 1989, the bankruptcy court issued an order closing the
bankruptcy proceedings. Thereafter, the Commissioner audited the
debtor’s 1986 tax return and, as a result of the audit, issued a
notice of deficiency determining that the debtor owed an
additional $12,000 in income tax and additions to tax of $2,024.
The debtor moved to reopen the bankruptcy proceedings, seeking a
declaratory judgment to determine the scope and effect of the
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