Howard and Everlina Washington - Page 34




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          dischargeability issue?  We would have an obligation and a                  
          responsibility to enter a decision sustaining or rejecting in               
          whole or in part the collection action set forth in the notice of           
          determination.  We would not be fulfilling that obligation and              
          that responsibility if we were to request the taxpayer to ask the           
          Bankruptcy Court to resolve a question over which we have concur-           
          rent jurisdiction.                                                          
               Our request to that effect would be inconsistent with the              
          goals of judicial and party economy embodied in the slogan “one-            
          stop shopping”.  If we have jurisdiction to resolve the bank-               
          ruptcy dischargeability issue, we should not ask the taxpayer who           
          raises that issue at an Appeals Office hearing and in this Court            
          to go to another court to resolve that issue and then return to             
          this Court so we can decide, at the end of what will by then have           
          become a very long figurative day, whether respondent may proceed           
          with the collection action as determined in the notice of deter-            
          mination.                                                                   
               Even if the taxpayer were willing to go back to the Bank-              
          ruptcy Court, it would be a waste of time and money to try to               
          force or allow them to do so.  The money would consist not only             
          of additional legal fees but also of additional interest accruing           
          while the liability remains unpaid.  And if the taxpayers are               
          willing, for purposes of delay, to take these extra steps and to            
          incur the additional costs, the IRS should not be impeded further           






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Last modified: May 25, 2011