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must be assessed pursuant to section 6501, but interest may be
assessed anytime during the collection period of the tax. This
period is usually at least 10 years. Sec. 6502(a)(1).
Therefore, the statutory scheme provides a distinct and longer
assessment statute of limitations for interest, and bifurcates
the tax and the interest in this context. In contrast, the
adopted opinion accelerates interest assessment in the context of
overpayment cases, and eliminates any possibility for later
assessment of interest or the correction of a prior interest
assessment. The plain language of the Code would require the
Commissioner to determine interest liabilities after the
determination and assessment of tax, including overpayments of
tax, and offset those liabilities against the overpayment.
The analysis of the adopted opinion is also inconsistent
with the statutory provisions permitting the parties to net
interest obligations where there is an overlapping period when
interest and/or tax has been underpaid and overpaid for different
tax liabilities. Sec. 6621(d). The adopted opinion would
require that all such netting be finalized at the time the
decision document is entered. In other situations in the Code
where subsequent events could alter the impact of a Tax Court
decision, the Code has a specific exception that permits
revisiting the results of the decision because of the subsequent
events; for example, the statutory treatment of net operating
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