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ministerial act by an officer or employee of the IRS.7 A
ministerial act means a procedural or mechanical act that does
not involve the exercise of judgment or discretion and occurs
during the processing of a taxpayer’s case after all the
prerequisites to the act, such as conferences and review by
supervisors, have taken place. See Lee v. Commissioner, 113 T.C.
145 (1999); sec. 301.6404-2T(b)(1), Temporary Proced. & Admin.
Regs., 52 Fed. Reg. 30163 (Aug. 13, 1987).8 In contrast, a
decision concerning the proper application of Federal tax law, or
other applicable Federal or State laws, is not a ministerial act.
See sec. 301.6404-2T(b)(1), Temporary Proced. & Admin. Regs.,
supra.
In the legislative history of section 6404(e), Congress
observed that “issuing either a statutory notice of deficiency or
7Sec. 6404(e) was amended by the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2,
Pub. L. 104-168, sec. 301(a)(1) and (2), 110 Stat. 1457 (1996),
to permit the Commissioner to abate interest with respect to an
“unreasonable” error or delay resulting from “managerial” or
ministerial acts. The amendment applies to interest accruing
with respect to deficiencies for taxable years beginning after
July 30, 1996, and is inapplicable to the instant case.
8The final regulations under sec. 6404 were issued on Dec.
18, 1998, and generally apply to interest accruing with respect
to deficiencies or payments of tax described in sec. 6212(a) for
taxable years beginning after July 30, 1996. See sec. 301.6404-
2(d)(1), Proced. & Admin. Regs. As a result, sec. 301.6404-2T,
Temporary Proced. & Admin. Regs., 52 Fed. Reg. 30163 (Aug. 13,
1987), applies and is effective for interest accruing with
respect to deficiencies for those taxable years beginning after
Dec. 31, 1978, but before July 30, 1996. See sec. 301.6404-2(c),
Proced. & Admin. Regs.
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