- 37 -
May 1997 payment, and the November 1998 payment, and to the
bottom line amount of taxable income petitioner had during the
years in issue. Respondent requested an interview with
petitioner to gather information about, and petitioner’s
explanation of, items on petitioner’s returns that were being
examined. On the basis of the facts and circumstances, we hold
that respondent’s requests in the July 26th IDR, in the November
8th IDR, and to interview petitioner were reasonable requests for
information, documents, and interviews.
B. Cooperation
Whether the taxpayer cooperated with reasonable requests by
the Commissioner for witnesses, information, documents, meetings,
and interviews is based on all the surrounding facts and
circumstances of the case. The statute itself does not state
what constitutes “cooperation”. The conference committees’s
report states that the House bill provided:
[T]he taxpayer must fully cooperate at all times with
the Secretary (including providing, within a reasonable
period of time, access to and inspection of all
witnesses, information, and documents within the
control of the taxpayer, as reasonably requested by the
Secretary). Full cooperation also includes providing
reasonable assistance to the Secretary in obtaining
access to an inspection of witnesses, information, or
documents not within the control of the taxpayer
(including any witnesses, information, or documents
located in foreign countries). A necessary element of
fully cooperating with the Secretary is that the
taxpayer must exhaust his or her administrative
remedies (including any appeal rights provided by the
IRS). The taxpayer is not required to agree to extend
the statute of limitations to be considered to have
fully cooperated with the Secretary. [H. Conf. Rept
Page: Previous 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011