- 46 -
respectively; i.e., interviews of taxpayers initiated by the
examination division and by the collection division,
respectively, and therefore not infrequently involuntary, which
are investigative or inquisitorial in nature and which can be
enforced by the issuance of an administrative summons.
In contrast to the in-person audit interviews and the in-
person collection interviews that Congress intended section 7521
to address, hearings or conferences before Appeals extant at the
time in 1988 Congress made section 7521 part of the Code
historically were, and remain, conferences initiated by taxpayers
and therefore voluntary, which are conducted in an informal
setting in order to review and consider actions taken by the
examination division or the collection division of the IRS and to
discuss the facts and the law relating to such actions for the
purpose of settling or resolving those matters without resort to
litigation. See secs. 601.106 and 601.203, Statement of
Procedural Rules. An Appeals officer does not have the same
investigative authority that a revenue agent involved in an
examination matter or a revenue officer involved in a collection
matter has. Indeed, where alleged new facts are presented at
Appeals that require authentication or verification, an Appeals
officer may ask the examination division or the collection
division of the IRS to authenticate and/or to investigate those
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