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By letter dated May 10, 2002, petitioner informed the
Appeals Office that he would not be able to attend the hearing
scheduled for May 16, 2002, and requested that it be rescheduled.
Petitioner also requested that the Appeals officer provide him
with the statutory or regulatory authority barring him from
recording the hearing.
By letter dated May 14, 2002, the Appeals officer informed
petitioner that his hearing was rescheduled for June 3, 2002.
The Appeals officer also enclosed with her letter a copy of an
internal, apparently unpublished, Memorandum to All Appeals Area
Directors dated May 2, 2002, from the Acting Chief of the Office
of Appeals in Washington, D.C., which stated as follows:
Effective immediately, audio and stenographic
recordings will no longer be allowed on Appeals cases.
Taxpayers and/or representatives who have already
requested such recording will be informed of the change
in practice immediately, and advised that the request
cannot be allowed.
Prior to enactment of IRC 7521, Service Compliance
functions voluntarily allowed audio recordings.
Appeals decided to follow this practice at that time.
IRC 7521, enacted in 1988, provided for the allowance
of audio recordings of conferences relative to the
determination or collection of a tax, between the
taxpayer and the Internal Revenue Service, provided
that the Service was given at least ten (10) days
advance notice of the taxpayer’s intent to record the
conference.
Although Appeals makes liability and collectibility
determinations, Appeals’ procedures differ from
Examination and Collection function contacts that are
not discretionary for the taxpayer. Contact with
Appeals is discretionary for the taxpayer, and as such,
recording has always been discretionary for Appeals.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011