- 50 -
6330(b) (and section 6320(b)), or at least referred to section
7521. It did neither.5
5At a minimum, if Congress had intended for the Appeals
hearing under sec. 6330(b) (and sec. 6320(b)) to constitute an
“in-person interview” for purposes of sec. 7521, Congress would
have so stated in the legislative history of sec. 6330(b) (and
sec. 6320(b)). It did not.
The fact that from 1989 until May 2002 IRS Appeals exercised
its discretionary authority and permitted audio recordings of
hearings before it does not mean that the IRS’s position was that
sec. 7521(a)(1) required such audio recordings. That was made
clear in Notice 89-51, 1989-1 C.B. 691 (Notice 89-51), and
Litigation Guideline Memorandum GL-17.
Notice 89-51 states in part:
For purposes of section 7520 of the Code [later
redesignated section 7521], the term “taxpayer
interview” means a meeting between an officer or
employee of the Examination function, the Employee
Plans and Exempt Organization function, or the
Collection function of the Service, and a taxpayer or
authorized representative, as defined in section
7520(b)(2), when the determination or the collection of
any tax is at issue.
Litigation Guideline Memorandum GL-17 provides in part:
It is also our position that section 7521 does not
apply to an administrative appeals conference * * *
* * * IRM 8626 does not create any right to make a
verbatim recording; it simply states that the
Commissioner or his/her delegate has the discretion to
allow a recording. * * *
Since 1989 until May 2, 2002, when Appeals, in an
unpublished internal memorandum to all Appeals Area Directors,
exercised its discretionary authority to end the audio recording
of conferences or hearings before Appeals that it had previously
allowed, Notice 89-51 and Litigation Guideline Memorandum GL-17
represented the interpretation of the IRS that the phrase “in-
person interview” in sec. 7521 does not apply to any Appeals
(continued...)
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