Rockie D. Elmore - Page 8

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          (holding that section 6212 does not require that a notice of                
          deficiency be signed).                                                      
               Although the provisions cited above reflect the prominent              
          role that Appeals officers are assigned in collection review                
          cases, we reject the premise underlying petitioner’s position;              
          i.e., that only the Appeals officer who conducted the                       
          administrative hearing may sign a notice of determination.  To              
          the extent that the Commissioner and/or the Office of Chief                 
          Appeals has decided that notices of determination under sections            
          6320 and 6330 should be reviewed, approved, and signed by Appeals           
          Team Managers (as was the case here), such decision is not in               
          derogation of section 6330 but rather constitutes an internal               
          agency matter that we are not inclined to question.5                        
               Consistent with the preceding discussion, we conclude that             
          the Notice of Determination Concerning Collection Action(s) Under           
          Section 6320 and/or 6330, dated April 11, 2002, upon which this             
          case is based, is valid.  Accordingly, we shall deny petitioner’s           


               5  Indeed, by interposing a layer of review between the                
          determination by an Appeals officer and the issuance of a notice            
          of determination, the taxpayer protections afforded by sec. 6330            
          are strengthened, which is consistent with the enactment of that            
          section by the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform            
          Act of 1998, Pub. L. 105-206, sec. 3401(b), 112 Stat. 685.  See             
          S. Rept. 105-174, at 67-69 (1998), 1998-3 C.B. 537, 603-605; H.             
          Conf. Rept. 105-599, at 263-266 (1998), 1998-3 C.B. 755, 1017-              
          1020; cf. sec. 7122(d)(1) (requiring procedures for an                      
          independent administrative review of any rejection of a proposed            
          offer-in-compromise or installment agreement made by a taxpayer             
          before such rejection is communicated to the taxpayer).                     





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