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petitioner’s concern that the collection action be no more
intrusive than necessary.
We consider each of the listed arguments below.
A.1. Impartial Officer
Section 6320(b)(3) provides, in pertinent part, that any
hearing with respect to a lien under section 6320 “shall be
conducted by an officer or employee who has had no prior
involvement with respect to the unpaid tax”. Petitioner alleges
two errors in respondent’s determination regarding the
impartiality of the hearing officer. The first is that the
hearing officer “had prior involvement * * * with respect to the
tax for the tax periods covered by the hearing”, contrary to
section 6320(b)(3), and the second is that the hearing officer
had “determined, before the said hearing was concluded, that lien
action against Petitioner was appropriate”.
Section 6320 requires that any hearing conducted under that
section must be conducted by an impartial officer. Section
6320(b)(3), however, defines an impartial officer as “an officer
or employee who has had no prior involvement with respect to the
unpaid tax specified in section (a)(3)(A) before the first
hearing under this section or section 6330.” The impartiality
requirement ensures that a hearing officer has had no prior
involvement in the determination and assessment of the underlying
tax liability that is the subject of the hearing.
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