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The Court of Appeals’s holding in Belloff is that this Court must
respect assessments set off under section 6402(a) if they are
procedurally valid assessments and “will not address the merits
of legal issues underlying the assessment.” Id. at 617. Indeed,
section 6512(b)(4) specifically denies us jurisdiction to
restrain or review “any credit or reduction made by the Secretary
under section 6402" once the assessment is made. On May 12,
1998, the interest assessment was made, and it was procedurally
valid. Our only authority to review this interest assessment is
under section 7481(c) and Rule 261, neither of which is the
subject of the estate’s motion.
The statutory scheme, contrary to the assumptions of the
adopted opinion, is based on a chronology that places the
resolution of unpaid interest on a deficiency after the entry of
decision. “Unpaid” in this context means unaccounted for by the
Commissioner or not treated as paid by the Commissioner. The
period of limitations for the assessment of interest provides an
initial example of the fallacy in the adopted opinion that
sections 6402(a) and 6512(b) do not mean what they say.
II. Statutory Conflicts Generated by the Adopted Opinion
Section 6601(g) allows the Commissioner to assess and
collect interest at any time during the period within which the
tax to which such interest relates may be collected. See also
sec. 301.6601-1(f)(1), Proced. & Admin. Regs. Generally, tax
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