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BEGHE, J., concurring: The majority acknowledge that
section 6203 requires the Secretary, upon request of the
taxpayer, to furnish the taxpayer a copy of the record of the
assessment but observe that neither section 6330(c)(1) nor the
regulations thereunder require the Appeals officer to furnish
“the taxpayer a copy of the verification that the requirements of
any applicable law or administrative procedure have been met.”
Majority op. p. 8. Nor, I would add, does section 6330(c)(1) by
its terms require the Appeals officer to furnish a copy of the
record of the assessment at the hearing. However, as the dissent
points out, it is difficult to see how the Appeals officer could
have verified that the requirements of all applicable laws had
been met when respondent had not complied with section 6203.
In any event, it should be standard procedure in collection
cases for the Appeals officer, no later than the commencement of
the hearing, to furnish the taxpayer a Form 4340 confirming the
assessment. In so doing, the Appeals officer will provide the
taxpayer minimum assurance that the amounts claimed by the
Service in the lien or levy proceeding notice are due and owing.
By furnishing the taxpayer a Form 4340 at or before the hearing,
the Service will remove any excuse of the taxpayer for not coming
to grips with the relevant issues described in section
6330(c)(2).
In the case at hand, the Appeals officer’s failure to
furnish the taxpayer a Form 4340 at or before the hearing was
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